IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2548 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2014 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To establish a comprehensive United States Government policy to encourage the efforts of countries in sub-Saharan 

Africa to develop an appropriate mix of power solutions, 

including renewable energy, for more broadly distributed 

electricity access in order to support poverty reduction, 

promote development outcomes, and drive economic 

growth, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electrify Africa Act 

5 of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to encourage the efforts 

8 of countries in sub-Saharan Africa to improve access to 

9 affordable and reliable electricity in Africa in order to 

10 unlock the potential for economic growth, job creation, 

11 food security, improved health, education and environ12 mental outcomes, and poverty reduction. 

13 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

14 Congress finds that— 

15 (1) 589,000,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa, 

16 or 68 percent of the population, did not have access 

17 to electricity, as of 2010; 

18 (2) in sub-Saharan Africa, electricity services 

19 are highly unreliable and they are at least twice as 

20 expensive for those with electricity access compared 

21 to other emerging markets; 

22 (3) lack of access to electricity services 

23 disproportionally affects women and girls, who often 

24 shoulder the burden of seeking sources of heat and 

25 light such as dung, wood or charcoal and are often 


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1 more exposed to the associated negative health im2 pacts. Women and girls also face an increased risk 

3 of assault from walking long distances to gather fuel 

4 sources; 

5 (4) access to electricity creates opportunities, 

6 including entrepreneurship, for people to work their 

7 way out of poverty; 

8 (5) a lack of electricity contributes to the high 

9 use of inefficient and often highly polluting fuel 

10 sources for indoor cooking, heating, and lighting 

11 that produce toxic fumes resulting in more than 

12 3,000,000 annual premature deaths from respiratory 

13 disease, more annual deaths than from HIV/AIDS 

14 and malaria in sub-Saharan Africa; 

15 (6) electricity access is crucial for the cold stor16 age of vaccines and anti-retroviral and other life17 saving medical drugs, as well as the operation of 

18 modern lifesaving medical equipment; 

19 (7) electricity access can be used to improve 

20 food security by enabling post-harvest processing, 

21 pumping, irrigation, dry grain storage, milling, re22 frigeration, and other uses; 

23 (8) reliable electricity access can provide im24 proved lighting options and information and commu25 nication technologies, including Internet access and 


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1 mobile phone charging, that can greatly improve 

2 health, social, and education outcomes, as well as 

3 economic and commercial possibilities; 

4 (9) sub-Saharan Africa’s consumer base of 

5 nearly one billion people is rapidly growing and will 

6 create increasing demand for United States goods, 

7 services, and technologies, but the current electricity 

8 deficit in sub-Saharan Africa limits this demand by 

9 restricting economic growth on the continent; 

10 (10) approximately 30 African countries face 

11 endemic power shortages, and nearly 70 percent of 

12 surveyed African businesses cite unreliable power as 

13 a major constraint to growth; 

14 (11) the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s 

15 work in the energy sector shows high projected eco16 nomic rates of return that translate to sustainable 

17 economic growth and that the highest returns are 

18 projected when infrastructure improvements are cou19 pled with significant legislative, regulatory, institu20 tional, and policy reforms; 

21 (12) in many countries, weak governance capac22 ity, regulatory bottlenecks, legal constraints, and 

23 lack of transparency and accountability can stifle the 

24 ability of private investment to assist in the genera25 tion and distribution of electricity; and 


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1 (13) without new policies and more effective in2 vestments in electricity sector capacity to increase 

3 and expand electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa, 

4 over 70 percent of the rural population, and 48 per5 cent of the total population, will potentially remain 

6 without access to electricity by 2030. 

7 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

8 Congress declares that it is the policy of the United 

9 States— 

10 (1) in consultation with sub-Saharan African 

11 governments, to encourage the private sector, inter12 national community, African Regional Economic 

13 Communities, philanthropies, civil society, and other 

14 governments to promote— 

15 (A) the installation of at least an addi16 tional 20,000 megawatts of electrical power in 

17 sub-Saharan Africa by 2020 to support poverty 

18 reduction, promote development outcomes, and 

19 drive economic growth; 

20 (B) first-time direct access to electricity 

21 for at least 50,000,000 people in sub-Saharan 

22 Africa by 2020 in both urban and rural areas; 

23 (C) efficient institutional platforms with 

24 accountable governance to provide electrical 

25 service to rural and underserved areas; and 


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1 (D) the necessary in-country legislative, 

2 regulatory and policy reforms to make such ex3 pansion of electricity access possible; and 

4 (2) to encourage private sector and inter5 national support for construction of hydroelectric 

6 dams in sub-Saharan Africa that— 

7 (A) offer low-cost clean energy consistent 

8 with— 

9 (i) the national security interests of 

10 the United States; and 

11 (ii) best international practices re12 garding social and environmental safe13 guards, including— 

14 (I) engagement of local commu15 nities regarding the design, implemen16 tation, monitoring, and evaluation of 

17 such projects; 

18 (II) the consideration of energy 

19 alternatives, including distributed re20 newable energy; and 

21 (III) the development of appro22 priate mitigation measures; and 

23 (B) support partner country efforts. 


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1 SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE, MULTIYEAR 

2 STRATEGY. 

3 (a) STRATEGY.—The President shall establish a com4 prehensive, integrated, multiyear policy, partnership, and 

5 funding strategy to encourage countries in sub-Saharan 

6 Africa to develop an appropriate mix of power solutions, 

7 including renewable energy, to provide sufficient electricity 

8 access to people living in rural and urban areas in order 

9 to alleviate poverty and drive economic growth. Such strat10 egy shall maintain sufficient flexibility and remain respon11 sive to technological innovation in the power sector. 

12 (b) REPORT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

15 President shall transmit to the appropriate congres16 sional committees a report setting forth the strategy 

17 described in subsection (a). 

18 (2) REPORT CONTENTS.—The report required 

19 by paragraph (1) shall include a discussion of the 

20 elements described in paragraph (3), and should in21 clude a discussion of any additional elements rel22 evant to the strategy described in subsection (a). 

23 (3) REPORT ELEMENTS.—The elements re24 ferred to in paragraph (2) are the following: 

25 (A) The general and specific objectives of 

26 the strategy described in subsection (a), the criVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:48 May 13, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2548.RFS H2548

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1 teria for determining success of the strategy, a 

2 description of the manner in which the strategy 

3 will support partner country efforts to increase 

4 production and improve access to electricity, 

5 and criteria and indicators used to select part6 ner countries for focused engagement on the 

7 power sector. 

8 (B) Development, by partner country gov9 ernments, of plans and regulations at the na10 tional, regional, and local level to increase 

11 power production, strengthen existing electrical 

12 transmission and distribution infrastructure, 

13 bolster accountable governance and oversight, 

14 and improve access to electricity. 

15 (C) Administration plans to support part16 ner country efforts to increase new access to 

17 electricity, including a description of how the 

18 strategy will address commercial and residential 

19 needs, as well as urban and rural access. 

20 (D) Administration strategy to support 

21 partner country efforts to reduce government 

22 waste, fraud, and corruption, and improve exist23 ing power generation through improvement of 

24 existing transmission and distribution systems, 

25 as well as the use of a broad power mix, includVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:48 May 13, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2548.RFS H2548

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1 ing renewable energy, and the use of a distrib2 uted generation model. 

3 (E) Administration policy to support part4 ner country efforts to attract private sector in5 vestment and public sector resources. 

6 (F) A description of the Administration’s 

7 strategy for the transfer of relevant technology, 

8 skills, and information to increase local partici9 pation in the long-term maintenance and man10 agement of the power sector to ensure invest11 ments are sustainable and transparent, includ12 ing details of the programs to be undertaken to 

13 maximize United States contributions in the 

14 areas of technical assistance and training. 

15 (G) An identification of the relevant execu16 tive branch agencies that will be involved in car17 rying out the strategy, the level and distribution 

18 of resources that will be dedicated on an annual 

19 basis among such agencies, timely and com20 prehensive publication of aid information and 

21 available transmission of resource data con22 sistent with Administration commitments to im23 plement the transparency measures specified in 

24 the International Aid Transparency Initiative 

25 by December 2015, the assignment of priorities 


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1 to such agencies, a description of the role of 

2 each such agency, and the types of programs 

3 that each such agency will undertake. 

4 (H) A description of the mechanisms that 

5 will be utilized by the Administration, including 

6 the International Aid Transparency Initiative, 

7 to coordinate the efforts of the relevant execu8 tive branch agencies in carrying out the strat9 egy to avoid duplication of efforts, enhance co10 ordination, and ensure that each agency under11 takes programs primarily in those areas where 

12 each such agency has the greatest expertise, 

13 technical capabilities, and potential for success. 

14 (I) A description of the mechanisms that 

15 will be established by the Administration for 

16 monitoring and evaluating the strategy and its 

17 implementation, including procedures for learn18 ing and sharing best practices among relevant 

19 executive branch agencies, as well as among 

20 participating countries, and for terminating un21 successful programs. 

22 (J) A description of the Administration’s 

23 engagement plan, consistent with international 

24 best practices, to ensure local and affected com25 munities are informed, consulted, and benefit 


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1 from projects encouraged by the United States, 

2 as well as the environmental and social impacts 

3 of the projects. 

4 (K) A description of the mechanisms that 

5 will be utilized to ensure greater coordination 

6 between the United States and foreign govern7 ments, international organizations, African re8 gional economic communities, international 

9 fora, the private sector, and civil society organi10 zations. 

11 (L) A description of how United States 

12 leadership will be used to enhance the overall 

13 international response to prioritizing electricity 

14 access for sub-Saharan Africa and to strength15 en coordination among relevant international 

16 forums such as the Post-2015 Development 

17 Agenda and the G8 and G20, as well as the 

18 status of efforts to support reforms that are 

19 being undertaken by partner country govern20 ments. 

21 (M) An outline of how the Administration 

22 intends to partner with foreign governments, 

23 the international community, and other public 

24 sector entities, civil society groups, and the pri25 vate sector to assist sub-Saharan African counVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:48 May 13, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2548.RFS H2548

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1 tries to conduct comprehensive project feasi2 bility studies and facilitate project development. 

3 (N) A description of how the Administra4 tion intends to help facilitate transnational and 

5 regional power and electrification projects 

6 where appropriate. 

7 SEC. 6. USAID. 

8 (a) LOAN GUARANTEES.—It is the sense of Congress 

9 that in pursuing the policy goals described in section 4, 

10 the Administrator of USAID should identify and 

11 prioritize— 

12 (1) loan guarantees to local sub-Saharan Afri13 can financial institutions that would facilitate the in14 volvement of such financial institutions in power 

15 projects in sub-Saharan Africa; and 

16 (2) partnerships and grants for research, devel17 opment, and deployment of technology that would 

18 increase access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. 

19 (b) GRANTS.—It is the sense of Congress that the 

20 Administrator of USAID should consider providing grants 

21 to— 

22 (1) support the development and implementa23 tion of national, regional, and local energy and elec24 tricity policy plans; 


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1 (2) expand distribution of electricity access to 

2 the poorest; and 

3 (3) build a country’s capacity to plan, monitor 

4 and regulate the energy and electricity sector. 

5 (c) USAID DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

6 ‘‘USAID’’ means the United States Agency for Inter7 national Development. 

8 SEC. 7. LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT. 

9 In pursuing the policy goals described in section 4, 

10 the President should direct the United States’ representa11 tives to appropriate international bodies to use the influ12 ence of the United States, consistent with the broad devel13 opment goals of the United States, to advocate that each 

14 such body— 

15 (1) commit to significantly increase efforts to 

16 promote investment in well-designed power sector 

17 and electrification projects in sub-Saharan Africa 

18 that increase energy access, in partnership with the 

19 private sector and consistent with the host countries’ 

20 absorptive capacity; 

21 (2) address energy needs of individuals and 

22 communities where access to an electricity grid is 

23 impractical or cost-prohibitive; 


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1 (3) enhance coordination with the private sector 

2 in sub-Saharan Africa to increase access to elec3 tricity; 

4 (4) provide technical assistance to the regu5 latory authorities of sub-Saharan African govern6 ments to remove unnecessary barriers to investment 

7 in otherwise commercially viable projects; and 

8 (5) utilize clear, accountable, and metric-based 

9 targets to measure the effectiveness of such projects. 

10 SEC. 8. OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Overseas Private Investment 

12 Corporation should— 

13 (1) in carrying out its programs and pursuing 

14 the policy goals described in section 4, place a pri15 ority on supporting investment in the electricity sec16 tor of sub-Saharan Africa, including renewable en17 ergy, and implement procedures for expedited review 

18 of and, where appropriate, approval of, applications 

19 by eligible investors for loans, loan guarantees, and 

20 insurance for such investments; 

21 (2) support investments in projects and partner 

22 country strategies to the extent permitted by its au23 thorities, policies, and programs, that will— 


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1 (A) maximize the number of people with 

2 new access to electricity to support economic 

3 development; 

4 (B) improve the generation, transmission, 

5 and distribution of electricity; 

6 (C) provide reliable and low-cost electricity, 

7 including renewable energy and on-grid, off8 grid, and multi-grid solutions, to people living 

9 in rural and urban communities; 

10 (D) consider energy needs of individuals 

11 where access to an electricity grid is impractical 

12 or cost-prohibitive; 

13 (E) reduce transmission and distribution 

14 losses and improve end-use efficiency; and 

15 (F) reduce energy-related impediments to 

16 business and investment opportunity and suc17 cess; 

18 (3) encourage locally-owned, micro, small- and 

19 medium-sized enterprises and cooperative service 

20 providers to participate in investment activities in 

21 sub-Saharan Africa; and 

22 (4) publish in an accessible digital format meas23 urable development impacts of its investments, in24 cluding appropriate quantifiable metrics to measure 


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1 energy access at the individual household, enterprise, 

2 and community level; and 

3 (5) publish in an accessible digital format the 

4 amount, type, location, duration, and measurable re5 sults, with links to relevant reports and displays on 

6 an interactive map, where appropriate, of all OPIC 

7 investments and financings. 

8 (b) AMENDMENTS.—Title IV of chapter 2 of part I 

9 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended— 

10 (1) in section 233 (22 U.S.C. 2193)— 

11 (A) in subsection (b), by inserting after the 

12 sixth sentence the following new sentence: ‘‘Of 

13 the eight such Directors, not more than five 

14 should be of the same political party.’’; and 

15 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

16 subsection: 

17 ‘‘(e) INVESTMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The Board 

18 shall take prompt measures to increase the loan, guar19 antee, and insurance programs, and financial commit20 ments, of the Corporation in sub-Saharan Africa, includ21 ing through the use of an investment advisory council to 

22 assist the Board in developing and implementing policies, 

23 programs, and financial instruments with respect to sub24 Saharan Africa. In addition, the investment advisory coun25 cil shall make recommendations to the Board on how the 


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1 Corporation can facilitate greater support by the United 

2 States for trade and investment with and in sub-Saharan 

3 Africa. The investment advisory council shall terminate on 

4 December 31, 2017.’’; 

5 (2) in section 234(c) (22 U.S.C. 2194(c)), by 

6 inserting ‘‘eligible investors or’’ after ‘‘involve’’; 

7 (3) in section 235(a)(2) (22 U.S.C. 2195), by 

8 striking ‘‘2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2017’’; 

9 (4) in section 237(d) (22 U.S.C. 2197(d))— 

10 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, sys11 tems infrastructure costs,’’ after ‘‘outside the 

12 Corporation’’; and 

13 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, sys14 tems infrastructure costs,’’ after ‘‘project-spe15 cific transaction costs’’; and 

16 (5) by amending section 239(e) (22 U.S.C. 

17 2199(e)) to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(e) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The Board shall ap19 point and maintain an Inspector General in the Corpora20 tion, in accordance with the Inspector General Act of 1978 

21 (5 U.S.C. App.).’’. 

22 (c) ANNUAL CONSUMER SATISFACTION SURVEY AND

23 REPORT.— 

24 (1) SURVEY.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—For each of calendar 

2 years 2014 through 2016, the Overseas Private 

3 Investment Corporation shall conduct a survey 

4 of private entities that sponsor or are involved 

5 in projects that are insured, reinsured, guaran6 teed, or financed by the Corporation regarding 

7 the level of satisfaction of such entities with the 

8 operations and procedures of the Corporation 

9 with respect to such projects. 

10 (B) PRIORITY.—The survey shall be pri11 marily focused on United States small busi12 nesses and businesses that sponsor or are in13 volved in projects with a cost of less than 

14 $20,000,000 (as adjusted for inflation). 

15 (2) REPORT.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than each of 

17 July 1, 2015, July 1, 2016, and July 1, 2017, 

18 the Corporation should submit to the congres19 sional committees specified in subparagraph (C) 

20 a report on the results of the survey required 

21 under paragraph (1). 

22 (B) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The re23 port should include the Corporation’s plans to 

24 revise its operations and procedures based on 


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1 concerns raised in the results of the survey, if 

2 appropriate. 

3 (C) FORM.—The report shall be submitted 

4 in unclassified form and shall not disclose any 

5 confidential business information. 

6 (D) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES SPECI7 FIED.—The congressional committees specified 

8 in this subparagraph are— 

9 (i) the Committee on Appropriations 

10 and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

11 the House of Representatives; and 

12 (ii) the Committee on Appropriations 

13 and the Committee on Foreign Relations 

14 of the Senate. 

15 SEC. 9. TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Trade and 

17 Development Agency should— 

18 (1) promote United States private sector par19 ticipation in energy sector development projects in 

20 sub-Saharan Africa through project preparation ac21 tivities, including feasibility studies at the project, 

22 sector, and national level, technical assistance, pilot 

23 projects, reverse trade missions, conferences and 

24 workshops; and 


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1 (2) seek opportunities to fund project prepara2 tion activities that involve increased access to elec3 tricity, including power generation and trade capac4 ity building. 

5 (b) FOCUS.—In pursuing the policy goals described 

6 in section 4, project preparation activities described in 

7 subsection (a) should focus on power generation, including 

8 renewable energy, improving the efficiency of transmission 

9 and distribution grids, including on-grid, off-grid and 

10 mini-grid solutions, and promoting energy efficiency and 

11 demand-side management. 

12 SEC. 10. PROGRESS REPORT. 

13 Not later than three years after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the Com15 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

16 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, 

17 and post through appropriate digital means, a report on 

18 progress made toward achieving the policy goals described 

19 in section 4, including the following: 

20 (1) The number, type, and status of policy, reg21 ulatory, and legislative changes implemented in part22 ner countries to support increased electricity genera23 tion and access, and strengthen effective, account24 able governance of the electricity sector since United 

25 States engagement. 


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1 (2) A list of power sector and electrification 

2 projects United States Government instruments are 

3 supporting to achieve the policy goals described in 

4 section 4, and for each such project— 

5 (A) a description of how each such project 

6 fits into the national power plans of the partner 

7 country; 

8 (B) the total cost of each such project and 

9 predicted United States Government contribu10 tions, and actual grants and other financing 

11 provided to such projects, broken down by 

12 United States Government funding source, in13 cluding from the Overseas Private Investment 

14 Corporation, the United States Agency for 

15 International Development, the Department of 

16 the Treasury, and other appropriate United 

17 States Government departments and agencies; 

18 (C) the predicted electrical power capacity 

19 of each project upon completion, with metrics 

20 appropriate to the scale of electricity access 

21 being supplied, as well as total megawatts in22 stalled; 

23 (D) compliance with international best 

24 practices and expected environmental and social 

25 impacts from each project; 


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1 (E) the estimated number of women, men, 

2 poor communities, businesses, schools, and 

3 health facilities that have gained electricity con4 nections as a result of each project at the time 

5 of such report; and 

6 (F) the current operating electrical power 

7 capacity in wattage of each project. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 8, 2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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