Office of Rep. Karen Bass
Washington, DC
On October 24, Congress member Karen Bass along with Reps. Royce, Engel, Smith and Senators Coons and Flake hosted the fourth Africa Policy Breakfast of the year entitled “Power: Eliminating a barrier to trade, development and growth in Africa.” The breakfast was standing room only as public and private sector stakeholders discussed the importance of developing and strengthening power projects across Africa.
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Edward R. Royce opened the event by discussing power as a barrier, not only to economic growth, but also to education and health initiatives. Kamran Khan, Vice President of Compact Operations at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, discussed the importance of electricity for global security, as well as the role public-private partnerships can play in the Power Africa Initiative. Paul Hinks, chief executive officer of Symbion Power, provided insight on the role his company has played in developing electrical infrastructure projects and its plans to expand to the continent’s two largest markets—Nigeria and South Africa. Olufunke Osibodu, director of Vigeo Power Limited, discussed the need for U.S. agencies to better coordinate their efforts in order to increase power generation across the continent. Vigeo Power is a subsidiary of Vigeo Holdings, a multi-million dollar Nigerian business enterprise that includes energy, finance, oil and gas, and shipping companies. Vigeo recently emerged as a central investor in efforts by the Nigerian Government to privatize its power sector. Ms. Osibodu was also a participant in a reverse trade mission organized by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), which included visits to U.S. companies in Georgia, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania.
The panel was moderated by Oren Whyche-Shaw, principal adviser to the Assistant Administrator for Africa at USAID. The question and answer session prompted a highly interactive discussion between the panelists and numerous ambassadors from the continent who discussed how the Power Africa Initiative would affect their countries. While other participants raised important issues around poor and marginalized communities surrounding power plants that our often without electricity. Stakeholders were also concerned about the amount of land that the extraction of gas would take and pushed the idea of focusing on renewable energy, as well.
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