Former US President Barack Obama talks with June Muli, head of Customer
Care at M-Kopa, about solar power during the Power Africa Innovation
Fair in Nairobi on July 25, 2015. A new report shows the Power Africa
initiative is falling short of his original goal. AFP PHOTO | SAUL LOEB
New York
A new report
on Barack Obama's main legacy project for Africa shows it is falling
short of his original goal of bringing electricity to 20 million
households in Kenya, Tanzania and four other countries by 2018.
Mr
Obama's Power Africa initiative, announced in 2013, has so far helped
connect only about half the projected number of households, according to
the programme's 2017 annual report published on Monday.
“To
date Power Africa has supported private-sector companies and utilities
in connecting a total of 10.6 million homes and businesses to power
solutions — that is approximately 53 million people who have gained
access to electricity since 2013,” the report states.
SOLAR LANTERNS
But
about two-thirds of those new connections take the form of solar
lanterns, which power a single light and enable mobile-phone charging,
the annual report notes.
Power Africa touts the
lanterns as “a critical first step [that] results in dramatic livelihood
improvements” for households in remote and impoverished areas.
Larger
systems are required in order to provide Africans with power to run
appliances and create businesses, the report acknowledges.
2 MILLION HOMES
It says the US initiative has so far helped connect more than two million homes and businesses to such sources.
The
annual report cites additional progress toward Power Africa's revised
and expanded goal of supporting the installation in several countries of
30,000 megawatts of generation capacity and 60 million new electricity
connections by 2030.
Hitting those targets will depend,
however, on President Donald Trump's attitude toward a programme
launched by his predecessor, many of whose initiatives Mr Trump has
sought to derail.
TRUMP MUM
The Republican president has said nothing about Power Africa during his seven months in office.
The
report points specifically to numerous private-sector power
transactions in East Africa for which Mr Obama's signature sub-Saharan
undertaking has helped arrange financing.
In Kenya,
Power Africa has played a role in projects that are expected to generate
537 megawatts, the report says, citing the Garden City Mall solar
system, KenGen Olkaria V and two other installations.
Nearly
670 megawatts are being added in Tanzania through Power Africa's
involvement in projects such as the Kinyezeri natural gas power plants.
UGANDA
Uganda stands to gain 105 megawatts through Power Africa's role in several projects, including hydro-electric plants.
Irene
Muloni, Uganda's minister for Energy and Mineral Development, writes in
the annual report that her country hopes to add 1000 megawatts in the
next three years through its partnership with Power Africa and public
and private entities taking part in the initiative.
Minister
Muloni also calls attention to the Power Africa's emphasis on enabling
women to get “innovative deals across the finish line.”
RWANDA
In Rwanda, the report notes, 96 megawatts are being added through hydro and solar projects that Power Africa is leveraging.
East
Africa has enormous geothermal resources, the report adds, with Power
Africa supporting more than 20 projects intended to tap this form of
energy.
Kenya is the site of 15 of those projects with a combined geothermal value estimated at $3.6 billion, Power Africa says.
The
report highlights the work of Wangeci Wanyahoro, a Power Africa
transaction advisor who, it says, is aiming to “position Kenya as a
leader in the African renewable-energy market.”
Ms Wanyahoro describes the Kenya's energy sector and market as “dynamic, intricate and challenging.”
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