Obama signs Africa electricity plan into law

US President Barack Obama has signed into law an initiative aimed at bringing electricity to 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020. The Electrify Africa Act of 2015 will give legal backing to Mr Obama’s flagship Power Africa scheme, which is trying to improve access to electricity through public-private partnerships. It took nearly two […]

US President Barack Obama has signed into law an initiative aimed at bringing electricity to 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020.
The Electrify Africa Act of 2015 will give legal backing to Mr Obama’s flagship Power Africa scheme, which is trying to improve access to electricity through public-private partnerships. It took nearly two years to be passed in both houses of the US Congress.
The scheme has set itself the long-term target of doubling electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa.  The legislation would “improve the lives of millions in sub-Saharan Africa by helping to reduce reliance on charcoal and other toxic fuel sources that produce fumes that kill more than HIV/Aids and malaria combined,” said House Foreign Affairs committee chairman Ed Royce..
Management consultant firm McKinsey estimates that it will cost $835bn (£575bn) to connect the entire continent’s population to electricity by 2030.