A new United States bill will support increased US investment in Africa’s development and growth, with the goal of giving more than 50 million Africans access to reliable energy supplies.

The US House of Representatives recently passed the Electrify Africa Act of 2014. If approved by the Senate, the act will allow the US to offer government-backed credits for energy investment by the private sector, Out-Law.com reported.

The proposed legislation will boost cooperation under Obama’s Power Africa energy initiative which was launched in June last year. The Power Africa initiative aims to boost energy security, increase economic growth and decrease poverty by investing in oil and gas, wind, solar, hydropower and geothermal resources across Africa.

The administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Rajiv Shah told Out-Law.com, “This act will increase Power Africa’s ability to catalyse private investment and spread energy access in Africa. I just returned from the World Economic Forum in Abuja, Nigeria… What came shining through each interaction was how African entrepreneurs are ready today to grow their economies if given reliable access to energy.”

The US government has already committed more than $7 billion in financial support and loan guarantees to the first five-year phase of Power Africa, as well as provided support and expertise from 12 federal US agencies. According to USAID, every dollar the US government has committed to Power Africa has already attracted $2 in private sector investment commitments.

Power Africa’s financial partners include the African Development Bank and the World Bank. They have committed to providing more than $14 billion in project finance through direct loans, guarantee facilities, and equity investments.

Power Africa project

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation and Reykjavik Geothermal of Iceland are expected to begin establishing the Corbetti geothermal power plant in July. This will be the first independent power project in Ethiopia’s history and is expected to have a generating capacity of 500 megawatts by 2020.

The $150 million 60MW Kinangop Wind Park, which will be built in Kenya, will be the largest wind power generation farm in sub-Saharan Africa to date. Africa’s Standard Bank Group and its Kenyan subsidiary CfC Stanbic Bank have signed a deal with independent power producer, Aeolus Kenya, to build the wind plant.