Power Africa: Obama’s signature scheme

Speaking in Cape Town at the end of June, US President Barack Obama unveiled a new multi-billion dollar power initiative, Power Africa, aimed at doubling sub-Saharan access rates, boosting generation capacity by 10,000MW and connecting more than 20m households and businesses to the grid over the next five years. Under the scheme, the US government will provide $7bn of financial support, while a major private sector investment drive will pump an additional $9bn of investment into African power projects.