Obama Promotes Power Africa Partnership Plan in Tanzania
In remarks on July 2 at Symbion Power Plant in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, President Obama elaborated on his new “Power Africa” initiative, which aims to increase electricity availability in Africa, where nearly 70% of the population lacks access to electricity.
The president announced the Power Africa plan, which aims to double access to power in sub-Saharan Africa, while he visited Cape Town, South Africa, on Sunday. In announcing the plan, Obama emphasized that the relationship between the U.S. and Africa is moving from the giving of aid to a partnership, capacity-building model.
The plan has the U.S. committing more than $7 billion in financial support over the next five years and includes private sector investments, “beginning with more than $9 billion in initial commitments from private sector partners to support the development of more than 8,000 megawatts of new electricity generation in sub-Saharan Africa.”
The plan notes that “sub-Saharan Africa will require more than $300 billion in investment to achieve universal electricity access by 2030.” The plan will initially involve six partner countries and aims to add more than 10,000 MW of “cleaner, more efficient electricity generation capacity. It will increase electricity access by at least 20 million new households and commercial entities with on-grid, mini-grid, and off-grid solutions. And it will enhance energy resource management capabilities, allowing partner countries to meet their critical energy needs and achieve greater energy security.”
In Tanzania on Tuesday, Obama said the gas turbine Symbion Power Plant “represents the kind of public-private partnership that we want to replicate all across the continent. This facility was idle. But the Tanzanian government, under President Kikwete’s leadership, committed to making reforms in the energy sector. With support from the Millennium Challenge grant, General Electric, and Symbion, they got it up and running again. More Tanzanians got electricity.”
Obama has been promoting the program and the model as a win-win. Africa gets electricity necessary for growth, and for the U.S., “investments made here, including in cleaner energy, means more exports for the U.S. and more jobs in the U.S. And, obviously, a growing market in Africa will mean more opportunities for all countries.”
Though the comments on Tuesday were made at a conventional power generating facility, Obama also gave a shout-out to a small-scale renewable energy project developed in the U.S.: “Some of you saw the Soccket—the soccer ball that we were kicking around that generates electricity as it’s kicked. I don’t want to get too technical, but I thought it was pretty cool. And this is developed by two young women from the U.S., so Soccket turns one of the most popular games in Africa into a source of electricity and progress. And you can imagine this in villages all across the continent.”
Sources: POWERnews, White House, Symbion Power
—Gail Reitenbach, PhD, Managing Editor (@POWERmagazine, @GailReit)
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on July 2