Officials from U.S. government agencies, African governments and private companies gathered in Washington, D.C., Thursday for the Powering Africa Summit.
Power Africa is an initiative launched by President Barack Obama in 2013 to leverage international technical, legal and financial partnerships to create 60 million new electricity connections and generate 30,000 megawatts of new and clean energy for Africa. As it stands, two out of three people in sub-Saharan Africa don't have electricity.
Thursday's summit was an opportunity for leaders to unveil the Power Africa Roadmap, an outline for how the project will accomplish its goals. The summit also revealed the Power Africa Tracking Tool mobile app, which provides new information about the African energy sector that is expected to facilitate more energy deals.
To date, Power Africa has helped create 4,100 megawatts of power that will eventually provide 4 million people with their first regular access to electricity.
Speakers included Power Africa Coordinator Andrew Herscowitz, U.S. Trade and Development Agency Director Leocadia I. Zak, Associate Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy John MacWilliams, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Transformation Melanie Nakagawa, President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation Elizabeth Littlefield and President and CEO of the U.S. African Development Foundation Shari Berenbach.
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