Launched by President Barack Obama in Cape Town one year ago, the Power Africa initiative has been making bold claims about its early successes in a campaign to boost Sub-Saharan Africa's (SSA) installed generation capacity by some 10GW and connect some 20m more homes and businesses to the grid by 2020.
Power Africa claims it will make some $7bn available in financial support and loan guarantees from 12 government agencies, led by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), Overseas Private Sector Investment Corporation and US Trade and Development Agency (TDA).
It aims to 'de-risk' projects, to facilitate the inflow of some $15bn in private sector investment into an initial six target countries - Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Liberia and Ghana - although US officials emphasise that all of SSA is equally open to receiving support.
Obama's initiative is focused on accelerating the development of clean energy sources and adoption of energy-efficient technologies (like the Africa-EU Energy Partnership). Through its Beyond the Grid programme, Power Africa seeks to facilitate investment in off-grid and small-scale power projects.
But the initiative is being invoked on all possible occasions; for example, as a driver behind Ex-Im Bank approving a guarantee for Caterpillar exporter Energyst. It is central to Washington's SSA trade drive.
As Ex-Im Bank chairman Fred Hochberg observed, his agency "is committed to expanding US trade with sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to seven out of ten of the world's fastest-growing markets."
US officials seem genuinely energised by their agencies' involvement in Power Africa - gaining momentum from Obama's global appeal and the pressure he can exert on government to unpack resources. Power Africa is seen by analysts as probably the only big African element potentially gilding in Obama's fast-looming 'legacy'.
Among recent highlights was the 3-4 June US-Africa Energy Ministerial meeting, chaired by Department of Energy secretary Ernest Moniz in Addis Ababa, and attended by 350 business leaders and government officials, including more than 30 African energy ministers.
Power Africa was prominent at big industry events such as Spintelligent's mid-May Africa Utility Week in Cape Town and EnergyNet's 2014 Africa Energy Forum, held on 18-20 June in Istanbul.
