Trump Ends US Initiative to Boost Electricity Access in Africa

(Bloomberg) -- A US initiative to increase electricity supply in Africa has been dismantled by the Trump administration after more than a decade of work, according to people familiar with the matter.

Almost all of Power Africa’s programs have been listed for termination and the majority of its staff fired, said the people who asked not to be identified as they aren’t authorized to speak to the media. Some remaining programs, particularly those aimed at connecting projects with US companies, may be retained under other US agencies, they said.

“Each program is undergoing a review with the goal of restructuring assistance to serve US interests,” a State Department spokesperson said in a reply to questions. “Programs that serve our nation’s interests will continue. However, programs that aren’t aligned with our national interest will not.”

Power Africa, which operated under the US Agency for International Development, was initiated under former President Barack Obama to add 30 gigawatts of cleaner electricity generation capacity and 60 million connections to homes and businesses. The end of the initiative that provided technical and legal expertise, as well as coordinating private sector and government interactions, may slow efforts to boost power generation in sub-Saharan Africa where almost half of the population of about 1.3 billion lacks access to electricity.

Soon after Donald Trump came to power, his administration accused USAID of wasting taxpayer money. He appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the agency’s acting administrator. He’s subsequently placed thousands of staff members on administrative leave.

Power Africa faced criticism early on because of slow progress. Subsequently, it would count contributing to 14,300 megawatts of capacity reaching financial close, over 41 million new or improved connections to homes and businesses along with advisers deployed in dozens of countries on the continent, according to a 2023 annual report. 

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