ABSTRACT
In the summer of 2013, President Barack Obama announced the “Power Africa” initiative, intended to bring 10,000 megawatts of electricity to 20 million Africans by 2020. This US Agency for International Development (USAID) and Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) led effort would double access to power across sub-Saharan Africa. The initiative expects to leverage a nine billion dollar commitment from the private sector in addition to a seven billion dollar promise from the US government (White House 2013). The Obama administration is not the only entity concerned with bringing electricity – and thus progress – to developing regions. The World Bank Group’s Energy Sector released their global priorities for electrification in the publication Toward a Sustainable Energy Future for All. A central focus for the publication discusses the role of energy in poverty alleviation, the need for hybrid energy solutions, and for financial support models resulting in doubled access to sustainable energy by 2030 (World Bank n.d.). By 2020, the Africa-European Union Energy Partnership intends to build 10,000 MW plus of new hydropower, wind, and solar facilities, and supply energy services to roughly 100 million Africans, for health, education, water, and communication initiatives (United Nations Foundation 2013). The Chinese government has pledged 20 billion dollars in energy infrastructure loans to “help African countries turn resource endowment into development strength” (Stoddard 2013).
