Power Africa Keeps the Deals Moving
Last month, we talked about how the momentum we’ve built has started to lead to more results, and we were right. Since the last newsletter was published about 6 weeks ago, we’ve tracked 18 new Power Africa-supported projects at financial close, an additional 612 megawatts (MW) are operational, and nearly 1 million new connections were reported. We’re in the business of keeping these deals moving, and the results are starting to prove it. If you would like to check for yourself, download the Power Africa Tracking Tool (PATT) for Apple and Android today.
Power Africa now has helped 80 projects comprising 7,262 MW reach financial close — that’s over 70% of our original 10,000 MW goal. 2,043 of those MW are operational. Power Africa has helped add 10.6 million connections, which means tens of millions of people (each household has 5 people on average) have access to electricity today who did not have access prior to Power Africa’s launch. We’re currently tracking about 740 projects that have some likelihood of adding more than 75,000 MW of power by 2030. We’re making progress and are continuing to find new opportunities for U.S. companies.
Africa Energy Forum. It was great connecting with many of you in Copenhagen for the Africa Energy Forum (AEF) and in Cape Town at Africa Utility Week in May. At AEF, we met with African energy ministers, other senior officials, and private sector partners to share our results, to advance deals by bringing parties together, and to compare notes on how we can stay on track to achieve our ambitious goals.
African Energy Forum Sets the Stage for Even Better Results. We had countless meetings with our private sector partners, who expressed their appreciation for our help in advancing their deals. We also spent time with Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation, and Electricity Seleshi Bekele to advance the Corbetti geothermal project.
USTDA’s Grant Signing Ceremony at AEF. The U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) signed a new grant agreement at AEF to support microgrid deployment in Zambia and to give U.S. companies a chance to showcase their technology. The World Bank launched its new report on public-private strategies for transmission development in Africa.
At AEF, Botswana Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology, and Energy Security Sadique Kebonang thanked Power Africa for helping him get Botswana’s solar procurements on track. The chairman of Kenya’s power generation company credited Power Africa with helping the company get its first ever pension fund investment from South Africa — a $20+ million investment.
Ugandan Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Irene Muloni headlined our Women in African Power lunch. We had productive bilateral meetings with the Ministers from Zambia, Uganda, and Ethiopia and other meetings with high-level officials from South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Ghana, Nigeria, the Southern Africa Power Pool, the West Africa Power Pool.
Supporting U.S. Business at Africa Utility Week (AUW). Power Africa interagency colleagues, including USAID, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), USTDA, U.S. Commercial Service, State Department, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), participated in the AUW conference and the Gas-to-Power World Congress in Cape Town, South Africa from May 16 to 18. While there, we announced the launch of the Southern African Energy Program (SAEP), a five-year project that is designed to increase the supply of and access to electricity in Southern Africa. In addition, USTDA signed a grant with Pele Green Energy, Ltd., for $1,099,579 to fund a feasibility study for a 75 MW photovoltaic solar facility in Free State, South Africa. Power Africa also participated in the Annual African Utility Week Awards Gala where several members of Power Africa’s “Women in African Power” networking group won awards, including Rose Kaggwa, Director of Business and Scientific Studies for the National Water and Sewage Corporation of Uganda for “Outstanding Woman of the Year;” Charlotte Aubin-Kalaidjian, Founding Partner at GreenWish Partners for the “Outstanding Contribution Award in Power;” and Helen Tarnoy, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Aldwych International for the “Lifetime Achievement Award.”
