WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today at the first-ever U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the following:

Power Africa, Trade, Doing Business in Africa and Agriculture

• Increase in USG Funding for Power Africa – President Barack Obama President announced a renewed commitment to Power Africa, pledging a new level of $300 million in assistance per year to expand the reach of Power Africa across the continent. Power Africa will aim to add in pursuit of a new, aggregate goal of 30,000 MW of additional generation  capacity and increase electricity access by 60 million household and business connections.
• Increase in Power Africa Private Sector Commitments – President Barack Obama announced private sector commitments now exceed $20 billion of investment in energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Power Africa MOU Signings – The U.S. government signed memoranda of understanding (MOU)’s with the initial six focus countries, which reflect the strong commitment of African governments to engage in policy and regulatory reform.
• New Power Africa Partnerships
  • The Government of Sweden formally announced a commitment to catalyze investments of $ 1 billion dollars to the Power Africa. The commitment from Sweden represents, for example, grants for distribution and transmission projects, and guarantees and loans for Power Africa projects.  
  • The World Bank Group will support Power Africa by committing $5 billion in new technical and financial support, including loans and guarantees, for energy projects in Power Africa’s six focus countries.  This commitment builds on the World Bank's existing $3.3 billion commitment in the six focus countries and its broader commitment to developing the energy sector in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced its enhanced support as Power Africa anchor partner, with an initial commitment of $3 billion.  The AfDB has already approved approximately $670 million in support for energy sector operations in the six initial Power Africa countries, and expects to commit an additional $2 billion in support across sub-Saharan Africa over the coming year.

• Trade Capacity Building (Trade and Investment Hubs/Trade Africa) - USAID will continue to expand its Trade Hubs into Trade and Investment Hubs, from East Africa to the other regions.
• African Private Capital Group - USAID, in cooperation with other USG agencies, is launching a South Africa-based Platform to mobilize U.S., South African and international private sector investment in key sectors to development in sub-Saharan Africa, including agriculture, energy, trade, infrastructure and health.
• U.S and African Leaders Announce Progress, New Partnerships to Help Millions of Farming Families through Agriculture - U.S. and African officials announced that more than $10 billion will be realized through responsible private investments as part of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, which President Obama launched at the 2012 G8 Summit at Camp David. These new investments are expected to create about 650,000 jobs and reach over 5 million smallholder farmers in initial New Alliance and Grow Africa countries.

Related:

• White House Fact Sheet: The Doing Business in Africa Campaign
• White House Fact Sheet: Powering Africa: Increasing Access to Power in Sub-Saharan Africa