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12 Things You Need To Know About Obama’s Power Africa Initiative

12 Things You Need To Know About Obama’s Power Africa Initiative

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In July 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama launched the Power Africa Initiative, which sought to increase access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Obama announced this during his first-ever tour of Africa as U.S. president.

While the initiative has not achieved much over the last three years, it is trudging slowly towards achieving its objective of reducing the number of people in Africa who lack access to electricity, a number that currently stands at more than 600 million.

Below are 12 things to know about Obama’s Power Africa Initiative:

Sources; The White House, New York Times, BBC, The Economist, The Christian Science Monitor, VOA, USAID, Financial Times, Gigawatt Global

OBAMA SIGNS POWER AFRICA INITIATIVE INTO LAW (Image: corporate-digest.com)
Obama signs Power Africa Initiative into low (Image: corporate-digest.com)

It’s backed by U.S. law

The project is backed by legislation that was adopted by the U.S. Congress.  It was passed by the Congress in Feb. 2016 and signed into law by President Obama on Feb. 8, 2016. The legislation directs the president to assist sub-Saharan Africa by providing power solutions including renewable energy. The solutions should be affordable and reliable in order to fight poverty and ensure economic growth.

Image: devex.com
Image: devex.com

It’s Worth $7 Billion

The project is worth $7 billion and is coordinated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It is one of Obama’s major projects in Africa and is being undertaken in five-year phases.

Image: opic.gov
Image: opic.gov

Six nations are part of the initial phase

The project has targeted six countries in its initial plans, namely; Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Liberia, Tanzania and Nigeria. The nations had to meet requirements such as policy changes to increase private sector participation in the electricity generation and distribution industry. This was meant to enable businesses to invest more in the sector.

Power Africa
A 500 watt solar system in a rural village in Uganda powers a home. Photo by: Sameer Halai / SunFunder / USAID

It taps into clean energy sources projects

Power Africa is focused on exploiting a wide range of energy sources that include wind, solar, biomass, hydropower, geothermal and natural gas in the six sub-Saharan Africa. The projects are large scale — 50 megawatts and above — and small-scale which are less than 10 megawatts. It also supports off-grid projects — mainly between 1 kilowatt and 5 megawatts.

Image: sweetcrudereports.com
Image: sweetcrudereports.com

It has an ambitious target

The project is set to make 60 million new electricity connections and add 30,000 megawatts to the electricity grid in Africa, by 2020.

Image: blog.usaid.gov
Image: blog.usaid.gov

A slow start has raised concern

By July 2016, six projects were already up and running, producing 374 megawatts of power. This has raised concerns about the slow progress of the project’s implementation.

Africa Solar Power
Rwanda launches East Africa’s first giant solar power field. Youtube/gigawattglobal.com

Unique projects

In February 2016, the first utility-scale solar field was launched in Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, Rwanda.  This is the first ever project in East Africa. It was constructed at a cost of $23.7 million and adds 8.5 megawatts to the nation’s electricity grid.

Image: usaid.gov
Image: usaid.gov

It has awarded seven grants in Nigeria

By July 2015, Obama Power Africa had awarded seven grants to entrepreneurs in the nation to start off-grid energy projects. Each grant was worth $100,000.

AfDB president Adesina (Image: mgafrica.com)
AfDB president Adesina (Image: mgafrica.com)

AfDB will provide $3 billion for the projects

African Development Bank is the project’s main financier. The bank will provide a total of $3 billion to help fund the project before 2020. The bank, through its African Development Fund (ADF) has already provided $1.4 billion for the project.

Medupi Coal Power Station, South Africa. Photo: pdcgroup.com
Medupi Coal Power Station, South Africa. Photo: pdcgroup.com

$14 billion from private sector

According to the White House, the private sector has already contributed more than $14 billion in loans, loan guarantees and equity investment.

Thinkstock
Thinkstock

Power Africa bill failed twice in U.S. Congress

Before it was successful passed in February 2016, the Electrify Africa Act had failed twice. Legislators in the U.S. Congress disagreed on its adoption since 2014.

Image: blogs.reuters.com
Image: blogs.reuters.com

It’s facing some challenges

The project is facing a range of problems in its successful implementation. In Nigeria, corruption, lack of infrastructure and insecurity have hampered it. In the other countries, unpredictable political climate and the poor infrastructure in rural areas have posed hurdles to the project.