Power Africa 10th Anniversary

President Barack Obama launched Power Africa in 2013 with the goal of doubling access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. During his 2015 tour of the Power Africa Innovation Fair in Nairobi, President Obama visited with June Muli, Head of Customer Care for M-KOPA, one of Power Africa’s 170+ private sector partners. Photo Credit: White House

Power Africa prioritizes opportunities for youth and early-career professionals to obtain education and skills that will drive Africa's clean energy future. At the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda, home to East Africa's first solar energy field developed by Power Africa partner Gigawatt Global, hundreds of students have gained critical skills in engineering and solar PV technology. Photo Credit: Rachel Couch

Power Africa seeks to connect households, businesses, clinics, farms and schools to the electricity grid, and to provide access to those who live and work beyond the grid. Through Power Africa’s Beyond the Grid sub-initiative, we work with partners to bring clean, sustainable power to rural communities and those living on the fringes of cities through off-grid power solutions, particularly solar home systems and micro-grids. Small businesses like this one run by a tailor in Sipane, Senegal, are more productive and can serve more customers thanks to access to electricity. Photo Credit: Xaume Olleros

Power Africa's technical experts work with electricity utilities to improve operations, enhance service delivery, and build solid financial foundations. In Nigeria, Power Africa's assistance to four distribution utilities reduced commercial losses and increased revenue by more than $160 million in two years. Here, a lineworker checks for faults on medium-voltage electricity lines in Abuja. Photo Credit: Ryan Kilpatrick for Power Africa

Modern industry requires abundant, reliable electricity to power machinery and drive production. Power Africa's technical assistance to increase generation capacity, strengthen utilities, and modernize grids enables industrial power consumers to keep lights on and assembly lines moving. Here, engineers conduct routine maintenance at Nigeria's Egbin Power generation station, which was privatized with support from USAID and Power Africa. Photo Credit: USAID / Power Africa

The Power Africa-supported Women in Rwandan Energy (WIRE) initiative works with the Rwandan Government and Rwandan energy companies to upskill and create opportunities for women in the fast-growing energy sector. Marceline Uzamukunda is one of the more than 115 female graduates from universities and technical colleges participating in WIRE's three-month apprenticeship program. Photo Credit: WIRE

Power Africa is accelerating a carbon-free future by advancing renewable energy projects across the continent. In South Africa, Power Africa support helped bring 27 renewable energy independent power producer projects to reach financial close. Once completed, these projects could inject more than 2,300 MW into the national grid and pump over $1 billion into local communities over the next 20 years. Two of these projects, the Karusa and Soetwater wind farms, developed by Power Africa partner Enel, came online in 2022 and are generating a combined 280 MW of clean electricity. The turbines, manufactured by Vestas, a Power Africa partner, are the largest on the African continent. Israel Thothela is the Plant Operations and Maintenance Manager at both sites. Photo Credit: Fraser Schenck for Power Africa

Power Africa's off-grid program in Liberia is helping fishing communities like Marshall stay afloat during tough economic times. Here, Abraham Vahn fixes his solar-powered lamp, which allows him to attract fish to his boat and increases his safety. Photo Credit: Fraser Schenck for Power Africa

District Health Sister, Fatmata Bayoh, and Alisa Koroma with her newborn baby at the Rogbere Community Health Center in Sierra Leone. Through USAID funding this rural health center is now electrified. Power Africa's Health Electrification and Telecommunication Alliance is assembling the world’s leading renewable energy, digital technology, and health solutions providers to electrify and digitally connect 10,000 health facilities, enable modern medical services, and improve lives. Photo Credit: Tolu Jethro Bade, Envizage Concepts

Without electricity, basic health services such as vaccinations, maternal and child wellness services, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis treatments, COVID-19 mitigation, and digital record-keeping are limited or unavailable. As a White House priority under the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, USAID and Power Africa are leading a public-private partnership to improve access to clean electricity and internet connectivity. The Health Electrification and Telecommunication Alliance will power health through renewable energy and digital solutions that deliver reliable, climate-friendly, life-saving power to 10,000 remote health facilities. Here, Nurse Kultumi Bangura demonstrates the critical need for electricity to cold storage in health facilities that keep life-saving vaccines. Photo Credit: Tolu Jethro Bade, Envizage Concepts

Expanding access to energy for productive uses improves livelihoods. Across sub-Saharan Africa, Power Africa and our partners are powering potential by delivering clean, reliable electricity to millions of people and businesses. Productive use of energy solutions, such as this solar-powered light used by Joseph Assitueh in Liberia, helps entrepreneurs recharge their businesses and creates opportunities for growth. Photo Credit: Fraser Schenck for Power Africa

Delivering electricity to people and businesses requires modern transmission and distribution networks that can support increased capacity and facilitate cross-border energy trade. As countries ramp up large-scale renewable energy generation to meet climate commitments and avert future greenhouse gas emissions, sub-Saharan Africa will need stronger grids that can handle the variability of wind and solar power and related energy storage solutions. Here, electrician Mari Mweto works on a substation in Tanga, Tanzania, constructed by Power Africa partner Symbion Power and funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Photo Credit: Jake Lyell for MCC

The very first Power Africa-supported project to be commissioned was the 8.5 MW Agahozo-Shalom solar array in Rwanda, developed by Power Africa founding partner Energiya Global and Gigawatt Global. Designed and constructed in the shape of Africa, this front-runner solar project received U.S. Government support through Power Africa partners the U.S. Trade & Development Agency and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which later merged into the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Photo Credit: Sameer Halai

Power Africa's goal of ending energy poverty also means powering livelihoods. Here, a nighttime market in Msimba, Tanzania, is lit by solar power, allowing economic activity and opportunity to continue long after the sun goes down. The Millennium Challenge Corporation's solar energy programs have brought electricity to markets and dispensaries in Msimba and dozens of other markets, schools, hospitals, and dispensaries across the region. Photo Credit: Jake Lyell for MCC

As part of the U.S. Government’s COVID-19 response, Power Africa redirected funds to bolster sub-Saharan Africa’s off-grid energy sector and to assess power loads for hospitals, clinics, and critical care facilities. USAID and Power Africa awarded over $2.6 million in grants to electrify health facilities, including this clinic in the mountain village of Manamaneng, Lesotho. The containerized solar solution will also power the surrounding villages through a long-term, sustainable plan designed to succeed long after the grant period ends. Photo Credit: TIA Productions

Power Africa creates opportunities for women to participate as vital actors in the energy sector: Policy makers, executives, power utility managers and technicians, energy solution entrepreneurs, and more. With support from Power Africa, USAID's global Engendering Industries program builds the capacity of African electric utilities to integrate gender equity best practices into their operating procedures. Here, Engendering Industries participants from Ghana's GRIDCo visit a substation in Tema. Photo Credit: Ryan Kilpatrick for USAID