Sec. 30276. Africa energy security and diversification
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It is the policy of the United States to support increased access to energy in Africa and reduce Africa’s energy dependence on countries that use energy reliance for undue political influence such as the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China. Congress finds the following: Lack of access to energy remains a significant barrier to economic advancement and opportunity in Africa. As of 2018, an estimated 789,000,000 people, the vast majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa, lacked access to any modern electricity.
Even in the region’s most advanced economies, average annual per capita electricity consumption is often under 200 kilowatt-hours, less than what is needed to power a typical refrigerator. Only a small fraction of the 12,000,000 young Africans who enter the job market each year find employment; and the cost and reliability of electricity remain top constraints to job creation and economic competitiveness. The United States’ global strategic competitors have stepped in to address this disparity and finance energy sector development across Africa.
China is the single largest trading partner for African countries in aggregate, and the largest bilateral lender for public sector loans across Africa. Approximately 65 percent of Chinese lending to Africa goes to infrastructure, and between 2013–2020, the energy sector consistently accounted for the largest share of all investment under China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Reliable, affordable, and sustainable power is the foundation for all modern economies and necessary for increasing growth and employment.
Increasing energy supply in low- and lower middle-income countries is necessary in the next decades in order to meet human, social, security, and economic needs. Addressing energy poverty, powering inclusive economies, and making energy systems resilient in low- and lower middle-income countries will require diversified power systems and a mix of technologies that align with local conditions, resources, and needs. It is the sense of Congress that countries in Africa continue to be important partners to the United States and the DFC should continue to make investments in sub-Saharan Africa to facilitate technologies that contribute to energy security and reliable, affordable, and sustainable power in low and lower middle-income countries.
Section 3 of the Electrify Africa Act of 2015 ( Public Law 114–121 ; 22 U.S.C. 2293 note) is amended— in paragraph (8), by striking and at the end; in paragraph (9), by striking the period and inserting a semicolon; and by inserting after paragraph
(9)the following: advance United States foreign policy and development goals by assisting African countries to reduce their dependence on energy resources from countries that use energy dependence for undue political influence, such as the Russian Federation or the People’s Republic of China, which have used energy and financial resources to influence other countries; promote the energy security of allies and partners of the United States by encouraging the development of accessible, transparent, and competitive energy markets that provide diversified sources and reliable, affordable, and sustainable power; encourage United States public and private sector investment in African energy infrastructure projects to bridge the gap between energy security requirements and commercial demand in a way that is consistent with the region’s capacity; and help facilitate the export of United States energy resources, technology, and expertise to global markets in a way that benefits the energy security of allies and partners of the United States, including in Africa. .
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