113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2548 
AN ACT 
To establish a comprehensive United States Government pol-
icy 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electrify Africa Act 
of 2014’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to encourage the efforts 
of countries in sub-Saharan Africa to improve access to 
affordable and reliable electricity in Africa in order to 
unlock the potential for economic growth, job creation, 
food security, improved health, education and environ-
mental outcomes, and poverty reduction. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) 589,000,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa, 
or 68 percent of the population, did not have access 
to electricity, as of 2010; 
(2) in sub-Saharan Africa, electricity services 
are highly unreliable and they are at least twice as 
expensive for those with electricity access compared 
to other emerging markets; 
(3) lack of access to electricity services 
disproportionally affects women and girls, who often 
shoulder the burden of seeking sources of heat and 
light such as dung, wood or charcoal and are often
more exposed to the associated negative health im-
pacts. Women and girls also face an increased risk 
of assault from walking long distances to gather fuel 
sources; 
(4) access to electricity creates opportunities, 
including entrepreneurship, for people to work their 
way out of poverty; 
(5) a lack of electricity contributes to the high 
use of inefficient and often highly polluting fuel 
sources for indoor cooking, heating, and lighting 
that produce toxic fumes resulting in more than 
3,000,000 annual premature deaths from respiratory 
disease, more annual deaths than from HIV/AIDS 
and malaria in sub-Saharan Africa; 
(6) electricity access is crucial for the cold stor-
age of vaccines and anti-retroviral and other life-
saving medical drugs, as well as the operation of 
modern lifesaving medical equipment; 
(7) electricity access can be used to improve 
food security by enabling post-harvest processing, 
pumping, irrigation, dry grain storage, milling, re-
frigeration, and other uses; 
(8) reliable electricity access can provide im-
proved lighting options and information and commu-
nication technologies, including Internet access and
mobile phone charging, that can greatly improve 
health, social, and education outcomes, as well as 
economic and commercial possibilities; 
(9) sub-Saharan Africa’s consumer base of 
nearly one billion people is rapidly growing and will 
create increasing demand for United States goods, 
services, and technologies, but the current electricity 
deficit in sub-Saharan Africa limits this demand by 
restricting economic growth on the continent; 
(10) approximately 30 African countries face 
endemic power shortages, and nearly 70 percent of 
surveyed African businesses cite unreliable power as 
a major constraint to growth; 
(11) the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s 
work in the energy sector shows high projected eco-
nomic rates of return that translate to sustainable 
economic growth and that the highest returns are 
projected when infrastructure improvements are cou-
pled with significant legislative, regulatory, institu-
tional, and policy reforms; 
(12) in many countries, weak governance capac-
ity, regulatory bottlenecks, legal constraints, and 
lack of transparency and accountability can stifle the 
ability of private investment to assist in the genera-
tion and distribution of electricity; and
(13) without new policies and more effective in-
vestments in electricity sector capacity to increase 
and expand electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa, 
over 70 percent of the rural population, and 48 per-
cent of the total population, will potentially remain 
without access to electricity by 2030. 
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
Congress declares that it is the policy of the United 
States— 
(1) in consultation with sub-Saharan African 
governments, to encourage the private sector, inter-
national community, African Regional Economic 
Communities, philanthropies, civil society, and other 
governments to promote— 
(A) the installation of at least an addi-
tional 20,000 megawatts of electrical power in 
sub-Saharan Africa by 2020 to support poverty 
reduction, promote development outcomes, and 
drive economic growth; 
(B) first-time direct access to electricity 
for at least 50,000,000 people in sub-Saharan 
Africa by 2020 in both urban and rural areas; 
(C) efficient institutional platforms with 
accountable governance to provide electrical 
service to rural and underserved areas; and
SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE, MULTIYEAR 
STRATEGY. 
(a) STRATEGY.—The President shall establish a com-
prehensive, integrated, multiyear policy, partnership, and 
funding strategy to encourage countries in sub-Saharan 
Africa to develop an appropriate mix of power solutions, 
including renewable energy, to provide sufficient electricity 
access to people living in rural and urban areas in order 
to alleviate poverty and drive economic growth. Such strat-
egy shall maintain sufficient flexibility and remain respon-
sive to technological innovation in the power sector. 
(b) REPORT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
President shall transmit to the appropriate congres-
sional committees a report setting forth the strategy 
described in subsection (a). 
(2) REPORT CONTENTS.—The report required 
by paragraph (1) shall include a discussion of the 
elements described in paragraph (3), and should in-
clude a discussion of any additional elements rel-
evant to the strategy described in subsection (a). 
(3) REPORT
ELEMENTS.—The elements re-
ferred to in paragraph (2) are the following: 
(A) The general and specific objectives of 
the strategy described in subsection (a), the cri-
teria for determining success of the strategy, a 
description of the manner in which the strategy 
will support partner country efforts to increase 
production and improve access to electricity, 
and criteria and indicators used to select part-
ner countries for focused engagement on the 
power sector. 
(B) Development, by partner country gov-
ernments, of plans and regulations at the na-
tional, regional, and local level to increase 
power production, strengthen existing electrical 
transmission and distribution infrastructure, 
bolster accountable governance and oversight, 
and improve access to electricity. 
(C) Administration plans to support part-
ner country efforts to increase new access to 
electricity, including a description of how the 
strategy will address commercial and residential 
needs, as well as urban and rural access. 
(D) Administration strategy to support 
partner country efforts to reduce government 
waste, fraud, and corruption, and improve exist-
ing power generation through improvement of 
existing transmission and distribution systems, 
as well as the use of a broad power mix, includ-
ing renewable energy, and the use of a distrib-
uted generation model. 
(E) Administration policy to support part-
ner country efforts to attract private sector in-
vestment and public sector resources. 
(F) A description of the Administration’s 
strategy for the transfer of relevant technology, 
skills, and information to increase local partici-
pation in the long-term maintenance and man-
agement of the power sector to ensure invest-
ments are sustainable and transparent, includ-
ing details of the programs to be undertaken to 
maximize United States contributions in the 
areas of technical assistance and training. 
(G) An identification of the relevant execu-
tive branch agencies that will be involved in car-
rying out the strategy, the level and distribution 
of resources that will be dedicated on an annual 
basis among such agencies, timely and com-
prehensive publication of aid information and 
available transmission of resource data con-
sistent with Administration commitments to im-
plement the transparency measures specified in 
the International Aid Transparency Initiative 
by December 2015, the assignment of priorities
to such agencies, a description of the role of 
each such agency, and the types of programs 
that each such agency will undertake. 
(H) A description of the mechanisms that 
will be utilized by the Administration, including 
the International Aid Transparency Initiative, 
to coordinate the efforts of the relevant execu-
tive branch agencies in carrying out the strat-
egy to avoid duplication of efforts, enhance co-
ordination, and ensure that each agency under-
takes programs primarily in those areas where 
each such agency has the greatest expertise, 
technical capabilities, and potential for success. 
(I) A description of the mechanisms that 
will be established by the Administration for 
monitoring and evaluating the strategy and its 
implementation, including procedures for learn-
ing and sharing best practices among relevant 
executive branch agencies, as well as among 
participating countries, and for terminating un-
successful programs. 
(J) A description of the Administration’s 
engagement plan, consistent with international 
best practices, to ensure local and affected com-
munities are informed, consulted, and benefit
from projects encouraged by the United States, 
as well as the environmental and social impacts 
of the projects. 
(K) A description of the mechanisms that 
will be utilized to ensure greater coordination 
between the United States and foreign govern-
ments, international organizations, African re-
gional economic communities, international 
fora, the private sector, and civil society organi-
zations. 
(L) A description of how United States 
leadership will be used to enhance the overall 
international response to prioritizing electricity 
access for sub-Saharan Africa and to strength-
en coordination among relevant international 
forums such as the Post-2015 Development 
Agenda and the G8 and G20, as well as the 
status of efforts to support reforms that are 
being undertaken by partner country govern-
ments. 
(M) An outline of how the Administration 
intends to partner with foreign governments, 
the international community, and other public 
sector entities, civil society groups, and the pri-
vate sector to assist sub-Saharan African coun-
tries to conduct comprehensive project feasi-
bility studies and facilitate project development. 
(N) A description of how the Administra-
tion intends to help facilitate transnational and 
regional power and electrification projects 
where appropriate. 
SEC. 6. USAID. 
(a) LOAN GUARANTEES.—It is the sense of Congress 
that in pursuing the policy goals described in section 4, 
the Administrator of USAID should identify and 
prioritize— 
(1) loan guarantees to local sub-Saharan Afri-
can financial institutions that would facilitate the in-
volvement of such financial institutions in power 
projects in sub-Saharan Africa; and 
(2) partnerships and grants for research, devel-
opment, and deployment of technology that would 
increase access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. 
(b) GRANTS.—It is the sense of Congress that the 
Administrator of USAID should consider providing grants 
to— 
(1) support the development and implementa-
tion of national, regional, and local energy and elec-
tricity policy plans;
(2) expand distribution of electricity access to 
the poorest; and 
(3) build a country’s capacity to plan, monitor 
and regulate the energy and electricity sector. 
(c) USAID DEFINED.—In this section, the term 
‘‘USAID’’ means the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development. 
SEC. 7. LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT. 
In pursuing the policy goals described in section 4, 
the President should direct the United States’ representa-
tives to appropriate international bodies to use the influ-
ence of the United States, consistent with the broad devel-
opment goals of the United States, to advocate that each 
such body— 
(1) commit to significantly increase efforts to 
promote investment in well-designed power sector 
and electrification projects in sub-Saharan Africa 
that increase energy access, in partnership with the 
private sector and consistent with the host countries’ 
absorptive capacity; 
(2) address energy needs of individuals and 
communities where access to an electricity grid is 
impractical or cost-prohibitive;
(A) maximize the number of people with 
new access to electricity to support economic 
development; 
(B) improve the generation, transmission, 
and distribution of electricity; 
(C) provide reliable and low-cost electricity, 
including renewable energy and on-grid, off- 
grid, and multi-grid solutions, to people living 
in rural and urban communities; 
(D) consider energy needs of individuals 
where access to an electricity grid is impractical 
or cost-prohibitive; 
(E) reduce transmission and distribution 
losses and improve end-use efficiency; and 
(F) reduce energy-related impediments to 
business and investment opportunity and suc-
cess; 
(3) encourage locally-owned, micro, small- and 
medium-sized enterprises and cooperative service 
providers to participate in investment activities in 
sub-Saharan Africa; and 
(4) publish in an accessible digital format meas-
urable development impacts of its investments, in-
cluding appropriate quantifiable metrics to measure
energy access at the individual household, enterprise, 
and community level; and 
(5) publish in an accessible digital format the 
amount, type, location, duration, and measurable re-
sults, with links to relevant reports and displays on 
an interactive map, where appropriate, of all OPIC 
investments and financings. 
(b) AMENDMENTS.—Title IV of chapter 2 of part I 
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended— 
(1) in section 233 (22 U.S.C. 2193)— 
(A) in subsection (b), by inserting after the 
sixth sentence the following new sentence: ‘‘Of 
the eight such Directors, not more than five 
should be of the same political party.’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(e) INVESTMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The Board 
shall take prompt measures to increase the loan, guar-
antee, and insurance programs, and financial commit-
ments, of the Corporation in sub-Saharan Africa, includ-
ing through the use of an investment advisory council to 
assist the Board in developing and implementing policies, 
programs, and financial instruments with respect to sub- 
Saharan Africa. In addition, the investment advisory coun-
cil shall make recommendations to the Board on how the
Corporation can facilitate greater support by the United 
States for trade and investment with and in sub-Saharan 
Africa. The investment advisory council shall terminate on 
December 31, 2017.’’; 
(2) in section 234(c) (22 U.S.C. 2194(c)), by 
inserting ‘‘eligible investors or’’ after ‘‘involve’’; 
(3) in section 235(a)(2) (22 U.S.C. 2195), by 
striking ‘‘2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2017’’; 
(4) in section 237(d) (22 U.S.C. 2197(d))— 
(A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, sys-
tems infrastructure costs,’’ after ‘‘outside the 
Corporation’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘, sys-
tems infrastructure costs,’’ after ‘‘project-spe-
cific transaction costs’’; and 
(5) by amending section 239(e) (22 U.S.C. 
2199(e)) to read as follows: 
‘‘(e) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The Board shall ap-
point and maintain an Inspector General in the Corpora-
tion, in accordance with the Inspector General Act of 1978 
(5 U.S.C. App.).’’. 
(c) ANNUAL CONSUMER SATISFACTION SURVEY AND 
REPORT.— 
(1) SURVEY.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—For each of calendar 
years 2014 through 2016, the Overseas Private 
Investment Corporation shall conduct a survey 
of private entities that sponsor or are involved 
in projects that are insured, reinsured, guaran-
teed, or financed by the Corporation regarding 
the level of satisfaction of such entities with the 
operations and procedures of the Corporation 
with respect to such projects. 
(B) PRIORITY.—The survey shall be pri-
marily focused on United States small busi-
nesses and businesses that sponsor or are in-
volved in projects with a cost of less than 
$20,000,000 (as adjusted for inflation). 
(2) REPORT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than each of 
July 1, 2015, July 1, 2016, and July 1, 2017, 
the Corporation should submit to the congres-
sional committees specified in subparagraph (C) 
a report on the results of the survey required 
under paragraph (1). 
(B) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The re-
port should include the Corporation’s plans to 
revise its operations and procedures based on
concerns raised in the results of the survey, if 
appropriate. 
(C) FORM.—The report shall be submitted 
in unclassified form and shall not disclose any 
confidential business information. 
(D) CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES SPECI-
FIED.—The congressional committees specified 
in this subparagraph are— 
(i) the Committee on Appropriations 
and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives; and 
(ii) the Committee on Appropriations 
and the Committee on Foreign Relations 
of the Senate. 
SEC. 9. TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Trade and 
Development Agency should— 
(1) promote United States private sector par-
ticipation in energy sector development projects in 
sub-Saharan Africa through project preparation ac-
tivities, including feasibility studies at the project, 
sector, and national level, technical assistance, pilot 
projects, reverse trade missions, conferences and 
workshops; and
(2) seek opportunities to fund project prepara-
tion activities that involve increased access to elec-
tricity, including power generation and trade capac-
ity building. 
(b) FOCUS.—In pursuing the policy goals described 
in section 4, project preparation activities described in 
subsection (a) should focus on power generation, including 
renewable energy, improving the efficiency of transmission 
and distribution grids, including on-grid, off-grid and 
mini-grid solutions, and promoting energy efficiency and 
demand-side management. 
SEC. 10. PROGRESS REPORT. 
Not later than three years after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the President shall transmit to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, 
and post through appropriate digital means, a report on 
progress made toward achieving the policy goals described 
in section 4, including the following: 
(1) The number, type, and status of policy, reg-
ulatory, and legislative changes implemented in part-
ner countries to support increased electricity genera-
tion and access, and strengthen effective, account-
able governance of the electricity sector since United 
States engagement.