US supports 7 billion USD for Africa to solve electricity shortage
This is considered one of the US's strategic problems to increase influence in Africa.
During his visit to South Africa, the second stop of his eight-day African tour, US President Barack Obama announced a proposal to provide $7 billion in electricity to the Sub-Saharan region over the next five years to address the power shortage there. This is considered one of the US's strategic plans to increase its influence in the black continent.
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The US President also announced the "Power Africa" Initiative, under which the US will invest 7 billion USD to develop electricity facilities in 6 African countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania, aiming to double the number of people with access to electricity, which until now has only been available to 1/3 of the continent's population. He said that the scale of trade and investment increased from the US in the future will facilitate the promotion of new opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic. Mr. Obama also pledged that the US will continue to invest in health programs in Africa, especially the HIV/AIDS program.
“Access to electricity is a basic human need in this day and age. It’s the light that keeps children learning, it’s the way ideas turn into businesses. It’s the way families can meet their most basic needs,” Obama said. “I’m proud to announce a new initiative. We’ve been working on agriculture, we’ve been working on health, and now we’re launching ‘Power Africa,’ an initiative that will double the access to electricity for all sub-Saharan Africans. To do that, we’re investing about $7 billion of the United States’ money.”
Electricity shortages have long been a problem for Africa. They have been and are one of the major problems that hinder development and are one of the biggest causes of poverty on the continent. Africa has the lowest electrification rate in the world, with about 75% of the population, or 700 million people, living without electricity, with only 3% of Burundi's population having access to electricity, 5% in Rwanda, 12% in Tanzania and 20% in Kenya.
For many years, Africa has been struggling to find a suitable energy policy. African countries are still trying to coordinate to solve the energy problem, the cause of which lies in the lack of foreign investment. Therefore, this proposal of Mr. Obama has received positive feedback from many African people.
Professor John Ross, Principal of the University of Cape Town, commented: “This is indeed a new initiative, but a particularly timely and important one. Hopefully it will bring good results.”
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to two-thirds of the population living without access to electricity. According to the International Energy Agency, sub-Saharan Africa needs an investment of up to $300 billion to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030.
President Obama is visiting a series of African countries including Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania to promote investment opportunities for American businesses in this “potential” continent, especially in the fields of food security and health. This is Mr. Obama’s first visit to this continent since his re-election in 2012 and his second visit since taking office in 2009.
The visit to three countries of Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania gives the White House owner the opportunity to directly experience Africa's development aspirations as well as the challenges the continent is facing.
Following South Africa, on July 1, President Obama arrived in Tanzania, the final stop on his three-country African tour (including Senegal, the Republic of South Africa and Tanzania)./.
According to VOV - DT
