By Oke Peter
Washington – The United States will embrace energy from a diversity of sources – from coal to natural gas to nuclear power to solar energy – to increase access across Africa, said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on Friday.
Speaking at the Powering Africa Summit in Washington, D.C., Wright said the new U.S. administration would partner with African governments and businesses, allowing them to drive their own energy agenda to increase economic growth and prosperity around the continent.
“The only goal of energy is to expand human opportunity. Make us live longer. Healthier. More opportunities for us and our kids. Increase food security. Increase heating security. It’s foundational,” Wright said. “Africa needs massively more energy. Africans will do that. Africans will deliver that. The United States is thrilled to partner with you in that endeavour.”
Wright said the U.S. will not limit the type of energy projects it will finance, noting that “there’s no technology I don’t like.” Instead, he said, the government will prioritize mutually beneficial relationships between government and business that foster entrepreneurship and a growing middle class, which are currently being stifled by a lack of access to energy and capital.
“How can we harness that entrepreneurial spirit with some technology assistance, lower cost capital from the United States to make things happen? … We don’t have a top-down grand plan,” Wright said. “We’re not going to decide what you want. You decide what you want. Your citizens, your people, decide what they want. We want to be your technology partners, providing capital and partnering in any way we can to pursue that goal.”
Nigerian Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu credited Powering Africa Summit with fostering critical discussions and catalyzing partnerships to transform Africa’s energy landscape, which include mobilizing investments, making policy reforms, and expanding access to stable, functional, and reliable electricity on the continent. He stressed the importance of working with the U.S. to do so.
“In Nigeria, Power Africa has played a pivotal role in supporting our approach of policy reforms, infrastructure development programs, leveraging bilateral funding to derisk investments, sector commercialization, and strategic partnership with the investment community,” Adelabu said. “The presence of strong U.S.-Africa collaboration has not only improved infrastructure, it has also stimulated growth and job creation.”
Energy poverty remains one of the most pressing challenges in Africa, he said, with over 600 million people lacking access to reliable energy, which harms economic development and social wellbeing. To bridge that gap, innovative solutions and sustained partnerships are required, Adelabu said.
“Energy poverty isn’t solved by wishful thinking. It’s solved by power plants that come online as quickly as possible. The focus must be on large-scale projects, reducing the ridiculous, yearslong bureaucratic processes that hamper progress. And by unleashing U.S. private enterprise by eliminating hurdles contrary to achieving our goals,” said Sun Africa Chief Executive Officer Adam Cortese. “The administration’s all-in-one energy strategy is the backbone of this vision. A practical, no-nonsense plan that embraces every tool in the toolbox to deliver results.”
“It’s clear that U.S. policy is energy access for all Africans, and they will partner with businesses from a diversity of sectors to achieve that goal,” said Simon Gosling, Managing Director of EnergyNet.
