The Electrify Africa Act, S. 2152, would require the President to establish a strategy to encourage sub-saharan African countries to provide access to sufficient reliable energy for their citizens. The bill specifies a goal of promoting first-time access to power for 50 million people in urban and rural areas by 2020.

The bill passed both chambers with bipartisan support and will be signed into law by the President.

Electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa

According to the House Republicans, 70% of the population of sub-saharan Africa lacks access to electricity. This totals to about 600 million people. The Tony Elumelu Foundation wrote in support of the bill that a lack of electricity has reduced the growth of African businesses and contributed heavily to the spread of disease and to infant mortality rates. They also mentioned that roughly 90 million children attend school without electricity.

The Power Africa Initiative

In 2013 President Obama launched the Power Africa Initiative to lend aid to sub-saharan African countries. Power Africa works with countries in several ways to promote sustainable energy, such as facilitating transactions with private corporations and help from other countries. They also send technical and financial advisors to assist at a local level, and seek off-grid solutions for remote communities. The initiative “includes the collective resources of the US Government, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Government of Sweden, the European Union, the African Union, the United Nation’s Sustainable Energy for All, and more than 100 private companies.”

According to the Power Africa Overview, “The U.S. Government is committed to providing more than $7 billion in financial support, loan guarantees, and technical assistance. To date, Power Africa has leveraged more than $20 billion from private sector partners for new on and off-grid projects in sub-Saharan Africa, meaning that every dollar the U.S. Government is committing to Power Africa has already leveraged almost three dollars in private sector investment commitments.” The website also includes a list of supporting US government agencies and their contributions.

The Electrify Africa Act would preserve the Power Africa Initiative by making electricity in Africa a foreign policy priority.

Support for the Bill

“Creating a favorable environment for private investment to bring reliable, affordable electricity to millions of people in Africa for the first time can be a real game changer in development throughout the region.” said bill sponsor Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) in a press release.

Many advocacy organizations celebrated passage of the bill, including the Tony Elumelu Foundation, ONE, and The Borgen Project.