Abstract Purpose of review This review paper assesses recent scientific findings around the integration of variable renewable electricity (VRE) sources, mostly solar PV and wind power, on power grids across Africa, in the context of expanding electricity access while ensuring low costs and reducing fossil fuel emissions. Recent findings In this context, significant research attention has been given to increased cross-border transmission infrastructure between African countries to harness the spatiotemporal complementarities between renewable electricity resources, as well as to storage options, such as battery storage and power-to-gas. Summary Much of the recent, model-based literature suggests that a combination of increased interconnections in and between Africa’s power pools, leveraging spatiotemporal complementarities between solar PV, wind and hydropower, as well as a large-scale deployment of storage options could help African countries meet their burgeoning power demand with largely decarbonized electricity supply.