Mohammad Zainal Abedin, NY
New York – USAID Administrator Mark Green details how Power Africa brings about revolutionary changes in Africa.
Addressing the three-day 4th Powering Africa Summit (PAS) held at Marriott Marquis Hotel in Washington, D.C from February 28 to March 2 2018 Mark Green narrated how the body works to change and develop African nations. The annual Powering Africa: Summit is a platform to showcase power, trade and infrastructure investment opportunities across the African continent, engaging decision makers from the American and African public and private sectors to explore how project bankability can be increased.
The Summit features a diverse programme of panel discussions, workshops, sponsored seminars, networking functions & exhibition of vetted solution providers. In 2017 the Powering Africa: Summit welcomed 500 investors to Washington DC from across North America, Africa and Europe to present energy projects, discuss investment opportunities and build relationships within the international power community.
Green recollecting his past in Africa said, he along with his wife, about 30 years ago started his career as a volunteer teacher in a small Kenyan village where talking to anyone in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, over phone was very time consuming. He narrated how not only Kenyan rural areas, but many other countries of the continent revolutionized and digitalized, particularly in telecommunication sector.
Pointing to this change he informed his audience what he found in East Africa, where was an US Ambassador, “—-my African staff were using cheap mobile phones to do business, to pay their bills, to make calls everywhere in the world. And that’s the personal lens through which I see the technology in Africa — the technology revolution. It is a time of great opportunity. It is a time where innovations in technology are making the impossible very possible, and the unsolvable within reach.”
He opined that technological and all the development in the region was possible due to the burgeoning new relationship between the development community and the private sector, the private enterprise. “I think leaders in both sectors are finally figuring out how to take advantage of the unique capabilities that each of them has and apply them to challenges that neither could fully take on by themselves,” he opined and added, “Take on challenges and problems that, not so long ago, seemed insurmountable.”
Green listed some associated factors such USAID, MCC, NGOs, and governments as the most important drivers of progress in the developing world.
He signaled some tidings to the participants saying, “—the great news, what brings you all here, is that’s all changing. That’s all changing fundamentally.”
Green detailed saying how this change may happen, “At USAID, we’re reaching beyond contracting and grant-making to collaborating, co-financing, and co-designing programs, tools, initiatives. We’re rethinking how international development initiatives are designed and tested, financed, and rolled out. We’re embracing the creativity and the entrepreneurship that private enterprise brings. We’re embracing the notion that the private sector, not donors and governments — but the private sector — will be the ultimate driver and sustainer of development, and we know that we need to re-envision our role accordingly. We’re embracing a model of enterprise-driven development.”
Pointing to expanding access to affordable, reliable energy and its ultimate benefits in Africa he said, perhaps no continent and no sector is better positioned to leverage the combination of technological innovation and enterprise-driven development and what it can do to lift lives and build communities.”
He said, to meet the Electrify Africa Act goal 20,000 megawatts of new power generation will be added by 2020 what will enable additional 50 million people will receive access to energy.
Narrating the deplorable condition of 70 million displaced people around the world today, he said, they are “—vying for food or looking for clean clothes or maybe a place to sleep,” but still they need “energy”.
“And as I got closer, of course, I saw they were simply charging their mobile phones. They needed power so that they could check in with loved ones. They needed power so they could begin ordering their lives before setting off for a new country and a new home. Power and connectivity is holding our modern world together,” Green opined.
He said, there are millions of displaced Africans — South Sudanese, Burundians and more — living indefinitely in camps — really pop-up cities — with no power and only the most basic of necessities.
He said, to help these people in January, he announced “— a new partnership that Power Africa has with MasterCard, aimed at helping to connect these millions of displaced people to electricity.”
“Through Power Africa, we helped convene more than 15 partners — from MasterCard to Mercy Corps to Energy Peace Partners”, he added. “— we’re working to power and connect five different refugee camps — three in Uganda and two in Kenya.”
He said, “Power Africa is helping our private sector partners set up micro-grids, which will bring reliable and affordable power to these camps for the first time. Once the camps are electrified, USAID’s innovation team and other coalition members will work to connect them to the Internet.”
Green said, with support from Mastercard and other partners, we are creating digital tools that tap into residents’ mobile phones to track health records, to provide digital identities, and to enable pay-as-you-go power, school fees, and other digital vouchers for services. In total, we expect to give more than 600,000 people access to affordable power, internet, and these digital tools.
He mentioned, Power Africa has helped 58 million people gain access to electricity using market forces and enterprise principles. It has turned to over 140 private sector partners and used the convening and policy-setting authorities that are the rightful role of government to help facilitate deals totaling $14.5 billion.
Detailing the role of the US government in this regard Green said, “USAID is providing technical assistance and a loan guarantee. MCC is pursuing energy sector reforms that will make this project possible. The State Department is working with the Government of Ghana to secure all necessary approvals. And the Overseas Private Investment Corporation — OPIC — is considering extending additional needed credit. But the underlying force comes from GE and Endeavor. They are building the infrastructure and creating a power plant that will be wholly self-sufficient.”
Green announced that US government releases strategy for Power Africa 2.0. “This strategy will ensure that Power Africa can continue to bring innovative ideas and enterprise-driven approaches to bear to help meet Africa’s power needs, but more importantly help expand Power Africa’s power opportunities. It will help increasing energy generation and access and make gains in the areas of distribution and transmission.
He said, a number of American firms will work with small and medium-sized businesses to strengthen American engagement leadership by fostering free and open markets, as well as sustainable and fair business practices.
“And it will improve regional stability as African economies continue to grow and expand and to create opportunities for their young people,” he hoped.
Indicating to Africa’s bright future, Green said, Africa boasts potential, enormous potential. Its resources, its farm and grazing land, awe-inspiring spirit of resilience and joy that lives within so many of its people.
In this respect Green Recollected President Trump’s deliberation regarding Africa at the UN General Assembly, who said, “The outlook is bright.”
Power Africa, and the partnerships that it relies upon — all of you — are a way to turn that vision into a life-lifting reality, Green opined.
