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Blog Category: Power Africa
As a
follow-up to the series of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) consultations
conducted in the United States and East and West Africa this summer, the Commerce
Department hosted Driving Investment in Power Africa program on the
sidelines of the U.S. Africa Leaders’ Summit. The Commerce Department event was
coordinated by the Office of General Counsel Front Office, Commercial Law
Development Program of the Department’s General Counsel’s Office in partnership
with the Initiative for Global Development (IGD) and the US Agency for
International Development. The program brought together investors in the
African power market and U.S. and African government officials to discuss the
role of U.S. government agencies in facilitating investment in power in Africa.
The first draft of CLDP’s Guide to Understanding Power Purchase Agreements
was also presented at the workshop.
The
dynamic mix of participants in the Driving Investment program engaged in
a productive dialogue before a standing-room only crowd. Julie Wenah of the
Office of the General Counsel welcomed the participants and General Counsel
Kelly Welsh provided opening remarks. State Department Deputy Assistant
Secretary Robert Ichord gave an overview of President Obama’s Power Africa
initiative and USAID Power Africa Policy Coordinator Roseann Casey highlighted
the broad array of US government support within Power Africa.
International Trade Administration Deputy Assistant Secretary Matthew Murray
stressed the role of power in driving increased investment in Africa, as well
as the Department of Commerce’s commitment to facilitating trade and investment
by U.S. companies in Africa.
Honored
guests included Niger Minister of Commerce for Promotion of the Private Sector,
Alma Oumarou and Rwanda Former Minister of Infrastructure, Professor Silas
Lwakabamba. Also, three business delegation leaders from Secretary Pritzker’s
May 2014 West Africa Trade Mission attended: Yolanda Parker of The Parker Group
LLC, Kevon Makell and David Ellis of SEWW Energy.The highlight of the program
was a roundtable discussion featuring a panel of CEOs of private-sector
developers and lenders with additional contribution from the African government
delegates in attendance.
The U.S. Partnerships and Initiatives Spurring Economic Growth in Africa
President Obama has called Africa “the world's next great economic success story.” According to the African Development Bank, Africa maintained an average GDP growth rate of 3.9 percent in 2013, exceeding the 3 percent rate for the global economy. U.S. exports to the continent of Africa have grown 39 percent since 2009, reaching $50.2 billion in 2013. The brightest spot has been U.S. merchandise exports to sub-Saharan Africa, which have increased 58 percent since 2009.
Building on this progress, the Department of Commerce and Bloomberg Philanthropies are co-hosting the U.S. Africa Business Forum on August 5, a day focused on trade and investment opportunities on the continent. Part of the first-ever U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit taking place August 4-6, the Forum is part of the Administration’s efforts to explore Africa’s huge economic potential:
- U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa: In 2012, President Obama announced the U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa, a comprehensive policy strategy to address the opportunities and challenges in Africa in a forward-looking way. The Strategy focuses on strengthening democratic institutions; spurring economic growth, trade, and investment; advancing peace and security; and promoting opportunity and development.
- Doing Business in Africa: As part of the Strategy, the Department of Commerce launched the Doing Business in Africa Campaign, which has helped U.S. businesses take advantage of the many export and investment opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa. As part of the campaign, Commerce has expanded trade promotion programs tailored toward Africa and dedicated an online Africa business portal directing businesses to federal resources.
- Commercial Service expansion: To expand Commerce’s human resources footprint in Africa, Secretary Pritzker recently announced the opening of new U.S. Commercial Service offices across the continent. The U.S. Commercial Service helps U.S. businesses start exporting or increase sales to new global markets. By expanding its Commercial Service teams in Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, and Libya, and opening offices in Angola, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Mozambique for the first time, the Department of Commerce hopes to help U.S. businesses find their next customer abroad and create jobs in Africa.
Commerce Connects U.S. Businesses to Opportunities in Africa’s Power Sector
With its fast-growing middle class and tremendous human, agricultural, and mineral resources, the continent of Africa is attracting investors and businesses from all around the world. Home to seven of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies, Sub-Saharan Africa outpaces global average growth. That is why, in 2012, President Obama launched the Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) on Sub-Saharan Africa, now known as the U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa. The Strategy recognizes that Africa holds the promise to be “the world’s next major economic success story,” and the Commerce Department is working help businesses be part of that success story by promoting U.S. trade and investment through the Doing Business in Africa (DBIA) campaign.
Today, the Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency’s (MBDA), Miami MBDA Business Center hosted the Power Africa B2B Summit to promote the public-private partnership model envisioned by President Obama’s Power Africa Initiative. President Obama announced Power Africa last year as an initiative to double the number of people with access to power in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 600 million people lack access to electricity. The United States is investing more than $7 billion in this effort.
At today’s Summit, prominent government and business leaders, including Nigeria’s Power Minister the Honorable Muhammed Wakil, CEOs of Africa’s major power companies, and representatives from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and USAID, joined MBDA to share opportunities for accessing the energy sector in African markets.
Why is Everyone Talking About Africa?
Claudia Easton is an intern in the International Trade Administration’s Office of the National Export Initiative and Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee. She’s studying Economics and Political Science at Amherst College. Cross-posted from Tradeology.
With the President’s recent trip to Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa, as well as the announcement of two new trade initiatives, the spotlight is on Africa – and with good reason.
While speaking at the Business Leaders Forum in Tanzania, President Obama spoke of beginning a new level of economic engagement with Africa. The Doing Business in Africa Campaign (DBIA) is part of the president’s strategy, and the International Trade Administration (ITA) is proud to join other government agencies to support DBIA initiatives that are helping U.S. businesses compete on the continent.
Trade Africa aims to facilitate expanded trade on the continent. Its initial focus will be on the East African Community (EAC), a market with increasingly stable and pro-business regulations. The plan will support increased U.S.-EAC trade and investment, EAC trade competitiveness, and regional integration. The United States seeks to expand this initiative to other regional economic communities on the continent.
Power Africa is intended to build on Africa’s enormous power potential to expand electricity access to the more than two-thirds of the population that is without power. The President pledged $7 billion in U.S. government support, in addition to $9 billion in private money, over the next five years to double access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Power Africa will help attract investment in Africa’s energy sector, build capacity for reform in the energy sector, and encourage transparent and responsible natural resource management.