The 10th Powering Africa Summit in Washington DC marked a pivotal moment in defining the strategic energy relationship between the United States and Africa, addressing the critical question: How will the new American administration shape its energy partnership with the continent?
In his address, Mr. Joshua Volz, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe, Eurasia, Africa and Middle East -Office of International Affairs in the U.S Department of Energy emphasized the need for people-centered profitable partnerships between American investors and African countries - moving away from handouts to hands up approach
“If we are looking at going from where we are now to an acceleration of where we want to be tomorrow, we cannot remain stagnant in how that partnership looks like and how we express that partnership together. This has been articulated by a number of folks within the administration and talking about the need to move from aid to investment and that really is going to sit at the heart of how our partnership is going to look like moving forward”
The Zimbabwean delegation led by Energy and Power Development Minister July Moyo expressed renewed hope that President Donald Trump’s administration will strengthen government to government partnerships.
“The vision that we have is that any investor from the West has been a historical investor with us and we still think a meeting like this where we can explain our situation, where we can explain how we can protect businesses that want to come and invest in Zimbabwe, that’s what we came to explain."
Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube told investors that his country is ready to sign deals, saying the energy summit continues to give Zimbabwe an opportunity to partner with other players in the industry.
“First of all, Zimbabwe is looking for investors in the energy sector, but also has something to contribute in terms of how to work with investors. But also, we have come to learn from others as to how we can attract various investors as you know we have got an array of opportunities in the energy sector.”
Zambezi River Authority Chief Executive Munyaradzi Munodawafa called on Zimbabwe and Zambia to work together in tackling the power crisis in both nations.
“We have a lot of projects that need to be realized along the river, so this summit is an opportunity to find out who we can partner with to realize these projects.”
Ms Bogolo Kenewendo, Botswana Minister of Minerals and Energy, said the Southern Africa Power Pool, a coalition of Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia and South Africa, is a drive that is in motion and is expected to tackle the power crisis in the region.
“The Southern Africa Power Pool is a very important aspect of how we trade energy in the region and how we develop regional infrastructure, and we are looking for partners and investors for infrastructure development to ensure that the power pool functions effectively.”
In the two-day summit, U.S government officials, African energy ministers and investors discussed synergies in the energy sector and the event is being held at a time the U.S government is shifting towards profitable investments in Africa and other parts of the world. The summit came at a time when Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa and other African countries are facing a power crisis, with some retailers closing citing high operation costs due to power cuts.
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