AfDB, Obama continue Africa energy partnership

African Development Bank Group (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina and U.S. President Barack Obama met at the 70th United Nation's General Assembly on Sept. 29 to confirm their continued partnership of bringing power to Africa.

“Africa has today over $82 trillion in discovered natural resources,” Adesina said. “We must add value to these resources so the wealth will stay on our continent.” 

The meeting comes on the heels of President Obama's Power Africa initiative that looks to ensure that Sub-Saharan Africans have double the access to electricity.

During the assembly, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. initiative supporting energy reform in Africa, also agreed to release another generation of energy compacts on the continent. With the announcement, MCC, which already works with the nations of Ghana, Liberia and Benin, will expand their program to other African countries.

Energy in Africa remained a key topic throughout the conference in addition to strategy being discussed to meet the newly launched Sustainable Development Goals that focus on gender equality, economic growth, access to health care and the establishment of social safety nets on the continent.