Politics
Obama’s Power Africa Initiative Showing Results but Draws Criticism
The White House Power Africa Fact Sheet mentions “recent discoveries of oil and gas” and “use of natural resources” six times as playing a “critical role” in “near-term global energy security.” Indeed, new oil and gas finds offshore of Mozambique have drawn international attention. According to a United Nations report released January 28, foreign direct investment to areas outside of North Africa rose from $39 billion in 2012 to $42 billion in 2013, with $7 billion going to Mozambique alone.
It may be a stretch to think Power Africa is a “Green Trojan Horse” to get fossil fuel energy embedded in the grid infrastructure before renewable energy like solar can actually gain favor, but critics do have other issues with the program.
Critics Still See Problems
“After six months, I’m struggling to figure out what it is, or rather what it would do,” Steve Sawyer, Global Wind Energy Council Secretary General told AFKInsider. “The US is coming rather late to this game, but even so, if that means that there are more players and more reasonably priced finance available in the African market, then it will probably help.”
Power Africa is based on passage of the “Electrify Africa Act of 2013,” introduced the day after Obama arrived in Africa “to support affordable, reliable electricity” development.
While only a quarter of the region has electricity, the legislation isn’t so benevolent: “Africa’s consumer base of 1,000,000,000 people is rapidly growing and will create increasing demand for United States goods, services, and technologies, but the current African electricity deficit limits this growth in demand,” reads the legislation text. In fact, of the $7 billion the government agencies are pitching in, $5 billion is from the U.S. Import-Export Bank, which guarantees loans if the receiving country uses basically American companies.
Another criticism is that “distributed generation” – off-grid projects in very remote areas – is getting short changed under the Power Africa plan. While the bulk of Power Africa is focused on expanding electricity services for those in or near urban areas, the vast majority of people who suffer from energy poverty live outside the reach of any power grid.
Yet, only $2 million was allocated to launch the Off-Grid Energy Challenge to provide grants to develop off-grid electricity in rural areas. “You’ve got to have power. And yet two-thirds of the population in sub-Saharan Africa lacks access to power – and the percentage is much higher for those who don’t live in cities,” said President Obama in his June 30, 2013, remarks launching Power Africa.
“So we’re very concerned because we are just as interested in getting power into the hands of the poor, we think that the best, most effective, nimble and fast way to get power into the hands of the poor is to focus on distributed renewable energy technology,” Justin Gu, Associate director for international programs at the Sierra Club told AFKInsider.
