Latest news with #AfricaFirst
Zawya
16-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Africa-First Energy Policies: Turning Vision into Investment
Africa is entering a pivotal phase in its energy transformation, characterized by a growing shift toward 'Africa-first' energy policies. Despite contributing less than 4% to global emissions, Africa faces the world's most severe energy access challenges – with approximately 600 million people lacking electricity and 900 million without clean cooking solutions. With $47 billion in oil and gas capex in 2024 – a 23% increase year-over-year – Africa is proving its value as a competitive and resilient energy investment destination. This surge reflects growing investor appetite, strengthened policy frameworks and a renewed focus on project bankability. In this context, African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energies 2025 – taking place from September 29 to October 3 in Cape Town – serves as the continent's leading forum for turning vision into tangible investment. With a focus on public-private partnerships (PPPs), blended finance and strategic energy projects, the event brings together government leaders, financiers, developers and technology providers to advance deals, foster collaboration and position Africa as a global energy leader. Building Institutions for Local Investment A wave of institutional and policy advancements is laying the groundwork for increased local investment in energy. A key milestone is the establishment of the Africa Energy Bank (AEB) by the African Petroleum Producers' Organization (APPO) and Afreximbank, with an initial capital of $5 billion. Headquartered in Abuja and set to launch in June 2025, the AEB will finance oil and gas infrastructure projects, serving as a bold step toward regional energy self-sufficiency and resource sovereignty. At the same time, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is supporting long-term energy planning. In Algeria, the AfDB has launched a strategic dialogue to shape the 2025–2030 Country Strategy Paper, aligning national goals with sustainable, diversified energy development. In South Africa, the success of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP) illustrates how structured procurement can generate market certainty. The latest round secured 1,760 MW of solar PV capacity backed by R31.4 billion ($1.7 billion) in investment — with 49% local ownership and 46% equity held by Black Economic Empowerment entities. Scaling Investment through PPPs and Blended Finance As Africa's energy project pipeline expands, PPPs and blended finance have become essential tools for scaling investment. The AfDB's $10 million concessional equity stake in the ARM-Harith Successor Infrastructure Equity Fund, a $200 million regional vehicle, highlights how development finance institutions can de-risk infrastructure and crowd in private capital. The fund supports AfDB's target to electrify 300 million people by 2030 through sustainable energy solutions. Meanwhile, South Africa's Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Program illustrates the power of blended finance in scaling innovation. With R12.8 billion ($678.8 million) allocated to eight projects delivering 615 MW of storage across three provinces, the initiative enhances grid stability and achieved a 35% cost reduction from the first bid round – a clear sign of growing cost efficiency. Frameworks for African-Led Growth The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), ratified by over 48 countries, offers a powerful framework for prioritizing African-led energy development. By promoting intra-African investment flows and removing trade barriers, AfCFTA enables energy projects to be sourced, financed and executed within the continent. With Ghana spearheading the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative – engaging eight pilot countries – the agreement is fostering regional cooperation to scale African energy solutions and reduce external dependency. Once fully operational across more than 50 member states, AfCFTA is set to accelerate an Africa-first approach to infrastructure, technology, and capital deployment in the energy sector. Meanwhile, the African Energy Commission continues to strengthen institutional cooperation across the African Union to support sovereign energy strategies. A prime example of African private-sector leadership is Coscharis Technologies' $4 billion solar project in Nigeria – the largest renewable energy initiative in West Africa – reflecting a shift toward domestically-driven, large-scale investment in clean energy that aligns with national priorities and regional ambitions. 'Africa's energy future must be shaped by African priorities, African solutions and African investment. At AEW: Invest in African Energies 2025, we are not just talking about the energy transition – we are driving real deals and partnerships that put Africa-led development at the center of the global energy conversation,' states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber. About AEW: Invest in African Energies: AEW: Invest in African Energies is the platform of choice for project operators, financiers, technology providers and government, and has emerged as the official place to sign deals in African energy. Visit for more information about this exciting event.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Trump's aid cuts and tariffs call for an ‘Africa First' response
In recent months, the name Birtukan Temesgen has become synonymous with years of human-rights abuses in Ethiopia. That country has largely become a failed state under the rule of its strongman, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmad, despite — or maybe in part because of — generous aid from the U.S. and the West. In 2019, Birtukan had overcome a rough childhood in Africa's second-most populous nation to become a thriving student at Dembi Dolo University. One day, while walking across the campus, she was kidnapped by gunmen and brought to a remote corner of the Ethiopian jungle, where she says she was raped and forced to give birth to a child. Six years later, Birtukan emerged to tell her story through interviews and a documentary, captivating the nation. However, in a subsequent interview, she recanted her story — a move many believe was coerced. Her saga has also called attention to dozens of similar kidnappings and missing students over the last six years. The lack of accountability for the lethal campaign of ethnic cleansing against her ethnic Amhara people by the Abiy regime continues, even as the Ethiopian ruler basks in the Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded by the West in 2019. The U.S., under both Democratic and Republican administrations, has largely ignored civil war, endemic corruption and economic decline under Abiy's rule. For years, it continued to offer carrots of humanitarian and developmental aid, including a recent major bailout through the International Monetary Fund, while not deploying the stick of consequences for the regime's crimes against humanity. Although much remains up in the air, President Trump's return sent a clear signal that this era is over. It is rapidly being replaced with an 'America First' policy that centers economic self-interests of both the U.S. and its potential trading partners while downplaying democratic concerns. The contours of this dramatic change became clear in the early days of Trump's second term, as the returning president and his cost-cutting team led by billionaire Elon Musk all but shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, and mostly cut off the spigot of foreign aid that, across Africa, has paid for programs like disease eradication and free school lunches. The U.S. government spent a whopping $6.5 billion on aid to sub-Saharan Africa last year. The apparent end of large-scale U.S. foreign aid is a crisis that also creates an opportunity. Trump's 'America First' policies are now reality for the next four years, if not longer. It creates an opening for forward-thinking countries, including Ethiopia, to forge their own 'Africa First' policies that will rebuild the continent through enhanced trade and human rights reforms, not handouts from the West. Seleman Yusuph Kitenge of African Union Development Agency-NEPAD argued forcefully for an 'Africa First' policy in a recent op-ed, noting that too often governments in the region use foreign aid from the U.S. or elsewhere to prop up flagging government services rather than on permanent economic development. 'An 'Africa First' approach should emphasize domestic resource mobilization, strengthening transportation systems and other social services, as well as the advancement of institutions and human capital,' Kitenge wrote. 'This shift would strengthen Africa's economic independence while reducing reliance on foreign aid.' The shock of the American aid cut-off should force African leaders to focus on the untapped economic potential of the continent, which is home to a massive consumer market and potential workforce. This would mean expanding the scope and the power of the current African Continental Free Trade Area, reining in the current black market that causes governments to lose billions of dollars in potential annual tax revenue and a serious effort to eliminate endemic corruption. The bigger idea here is not to recoil at the notion of an 'America First' policy in Washington but to seek inspiration from it. This philosophy could be likewise harnessed to advance business partnerships, innovation, economic development and good governance to help Africa emerge as a continent of the future. An 'Africa First' policy could especially benefit Ethiopia, which has struggled throughout its modern history under the yoke of Western colonialism that has too often sought to divide the proud nation by ethnic groups building resentment against each other to prevent a strong, unified independent source in the populous and resource-rich Horn of Africa. Ironically, this divide-and-conquer approach has hurt the United States as much as Ethiopia, by encouraging other superpower nations such as China and the up-and-coming Gulf powers to jockey for influence. There remain powerful incentives for African governments to cooperate with the Trump administration, including favorable trade deals, security assistance and access to American markets. There are also good reasons for America to continue to offer security aid, based on mutual interests to combat terrorism or to minimize other regional conflicts. Nor does an 'America First' policy eliminate the shared benefits of deals that leverage U.S. leadership in areas such as energy, infrastructure and technology. On April 2, the Trump administration unveiled a sweeping new tariff policy that did not spare Africa, with Ethiopia and its neighbors facing a 10 percent surcharge on goods while South Africa — whose current government is out of favor with both Trump and Musk, a native son — has been hit with a steep 30 percent tariff. His is shock therapy for African leaders to begin truly building their own economies, finally addressing rampant corruption, and cooperating across borders to create a rising tide that will lift all boats. The former system — the one that creates civil war, poverty and nightmare stories such as the one told by Temesgen — was never sustainable. It is long past time to begin putting Africa first. Mesfin Tegenu is executive chairman of the American Ethiopian Public Affairs Committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
16-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump's aid cuts and tariffs call for an ‘Africa First' response
In recent months, the name Birtukan Temesgen has become synonymous with years of human-rights abuses in Ethiopia. That country has largely become a failed state under the rule of its strongman, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmad, despite — or maybe in part because of — generous aid from the U.S. and the West. In 2019, Birtukan had overcome a rough childhood in Africa's second-most populous nation to become a thriving student at Dembi Dolo University. One day, while walking across the campus, she was kidnapped by gunmen and brought to a remote corner of the Ethiopian jungle, where she says she was raped and forced to give birth to a child. Six years later, Birtukan emerged to tell her story through interviews and a documentary, captivating the nation. However, in a subsequent interview, she recanted her story — a move many believe was coerced. Her saga has also called attention to dozens of similar kidnappings and missing students over the last six years. The lack of accountability for the lethal campaign of ethnic cleansing against her ethnic Amhara people by the Abiy regime continues, even as the Ethiopian ruler basks in the Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded by the West in 2019. The U.S., under both Democratic and Republican administrations, has largely ignored civil war, endemic corruption and economic decline under Abiy's rule. For years, it continued to offer carrots of humanitarian and developmental aid, including a recent major bailout through the International Monetary Fund, while not deploying the stick of consequences for the regime's crimes against humanity. Although much remains up in the air, President Trump's return sent a clear signal that this era is over. It is rapidly being replaced with an 'America First' policy that centers economic self-interests of both the U.S. and its potential trading partners while downplaying democratic concerns. The contours of this dramatic change became clear in the early days of Trump's second term, as the returning president and his cost-cutting team led by billionaire Elon Musk all but shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development, and mostly cut off the spigot of foreign aid that, across Africa, has paid for programs like disease eradication and free school lunches. The U.S. government spent a whopping $6.5 billion on aid to sub-Saharan Africa last year. The apparent end of large-scale U.S. foreign aid is a crisis that also creates an opportunity. Trump's 'America First' policies are now reality for the next four years, if not longer. It creates an opening for forward-thinking countries, including Ethiopia, to forge their own 'Africa First' policies that will rebuild the continent through enhanced trade and human rights reforms, not handouts from the West. Seleman Yusuph Kitenge of African Union Development Agency-NEPAD argued forcefully for an 'Africa First' policy in a recent op-ed, noting that too often governments in the region use foreign aid from the U.S. or elsewhere to prop up flagging government services rather than on permanent economic development. 'An 'Africa First' approach should emphasize domestic resource mobilization, strengthening transportation systems and other social services, as well as the advancement of institutions and human capital,' Kitenge wrote. 'This shift would strengthen Africa's economic independence while reducing reliance on foreign aid.' The shock of the American aid cut-off should force African leaders to focus on the untapped economic potential of the continent, which is home to a massive consumer market and potential workforce. This would mean expanding the scope and the power of the current African Continental Free Trade Area, reining in the current black market that causes governments to lose billions of dollars in potential annual tax revenue and a serious effort to eliminate endemic corruption. The bigger idea here is not to recoil at the notion of an 'America First' policy in Washington but to seek inspiration from it. This philosophy could be likewise harnessed to advance business partnerships, innovation, economic development and good governance to help Africa emerge as a continent of the future. An 'Africa First' policy could especially benefit Ethiopia, which has struggled throughout its modern history under the yoke of Western colonialism that has too often sought to divide the proud nation by ethnic groups building resentment against each other to prevent a strong, unified independent source in the populous and resource-rich Horn of Africa. Ironically, this divide-and-conquer approach has hurt the United States as much as Ethiopia, by encouraging other superpower nations such as China and the up-and-coming Gulf powers to jockey for influence. There remain powerful incentives for African governments to cooperate with the Trump administration, including favorable trade deals, security assistance and access to American markets. There are also good reasons for America to continue to offer security aid, based on mutual interests to combat terrorism or to minimize other regional conflicts. Nor does an 'America First' policy eliminate the shared benefits of deals that leverage U.S. leadership in areas such as energy, infrastructure and technology. On April 2, the Trump administration unveiled a sweeping new tariff policy that did not spare Africa, with Ethiopia and its neighbors facing a 10 percent surcharge on goods while South Africa — whose current government is out of favor with both Trump and Musk, a native son — has been hit with a steep 30 percent tariff. His is shock therapy for African leaders to begin truly building their own economies, finally addressing rampant corruption, and cooperating across borders to create a rising tide that will lift all boats. The former system — the one that creates civil war, poverty and nightmare stories such as the one told by Temesgen — was never sustainable. It is long past time to begin putting Africa first.
