[ 2016-02-01 ]

Elumelu urges US Congress to pass the Electrify Africa Act
Accra, Feb. 1, GNA - Mr Tony Elumelu, Chairman,
Heirs Holdings, has called on the United States
Congress to pass the ‘Electrify Africa Act’
stating that its passage into law would make a
world of difference in Africa.

“When you leave this place, call your
Representatives and the Leadership of the House
and ask them to pass the bill,” Mr Elumelu urged
members of a packed audience in Washington D.C.

The bill, which would preserve and expand
President Barack Obama’s Power Africa Initiative
by codifying access to electricity as a U.S.
foreign policy priority for Africa, has already
been passed by the U.S. Senate and is expected to
be voted by the U.S. House of Representatives next
week.

Speaking at the “Power Africa Summit” in
Washington D.C, Mr Elumelu, who is also the
Founder Tony Elumelu Foundation, commended
President Obama for working through the Power
Africa Initiative to mobilize the private sector
to invest $43 billion in the African power
sector.

Mr Elumelu said Africa must win the energy
challenge if it seeks to become an industrial
power in the 21st century, noting that “power
outages on the continent must spark power
outrages. The kind of outrage that ignites the
activist in us”.

Elumelu’s Heirs Holdings, a propriety investment
company, through Transcorp Power Limited has
committed $2.5 billion to deliver 2,000 megawatts
of electricity under the Power Africa Initiative.

Transcorp Power is currently generating about 19
per cent of Nigeria’s power needs with a target
to increase capacity to 25 per cent in the near
future.

“Power cuts across and has impacted on
healthcare delivery, job creation, education, food
security communications and all other sectors of
the economy. It is unacceptable that 600 million
Africans lack access to energy in the 21st
century”, Mr Elumelu said.

The call in Washington DC, follows the joint
letter to the U.S. Congress from Elumelu and Mr
Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, on
behalf of the African Energy Leaders Group (AELG),
which they co-founded with other leaders in
January 2015.

The letter, similarly urged members of the U.S.
House of Representatives to act swiftly to pass
this critical piece of legislation to scale up
U.S. efforts to help provide Africans with access
to electricity.

In continuation of his advocacy for Africa,
Elumelu also testified before the U.S.
International Trade Commission on ‘The Future of
the U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment
Relationship’ the same day.

Chaired by Ambassador Michael Froman, the US Trade
Representative, the Hearing was part of efforts by
the U.S. government to put appropriate building
blocks in place for the next phase in its economic
relationship with Africa.

As a recognized African business and thought
leader, Mr Elumelu was invited to share ideas on
how to enhance the U.S.-Africa trade and
investment relationships beyond the preferential
access to the U.S. market for Africa’s products
under the African Growth and Opportunity Act
(AGOA).

Speaking at the Hearing, Mr Elumelu said Africa
did not need another trade agreement or
preferential programme and called for a new
paradigm in the trade and investment relationship
with Africa.

He said: “It is time to move beyond the unequal
exchange of cheap raw materials for expensive
finished goods that disadvantages Africa, to one
that ensures technology transfer and sustainable
economic development, huge economic returns for
investors and creates new jobs for both sides.”

He proposed three approaches to achieving this;
applying the principles of Africapitalism; focus
on identifying and enabling specific value chains;
and promoting entrepreneurship.

“Africapitalism can help shape the new trade
paradigm because it requires governments, donors
and the private sector to work together in a
“Shared Purpose” to ensure the creation of
national plans and supporting policies around
specific sectors and related targets, so the
private sector can step in with capital and
expertise geared to achieve those targets, be they
tons of grain produced, megawatts of electricity
generated or industrial parks created”, he
stated.

Mr Elumelu’s engagements in the U.S. comes
after the recent visit by a delegation of members
of Obama’s Presidential Advisory Council on
Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA), along with
representatives of several U.S. government trade
and investment-focused agencies.

Elumelu hosted the delegation in Lagos, provided
them an opportunity to interact and hear directly
from young aspiring entrepreneurs drawn from the
Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP); an
audacious initiative that provides seed capital,
training, mentorship and a networking platform for
10,000 African entrepreneurs over a 10 year
period.

Endowed with $100million by the African
Philanthropist, the programme, which commenced
last year with 1000 beneficiaries, is currently in
its second year with another 1000 beneficiaries
from Africa, scheduled to participate and benefit
from the novel entrepreneurship development
program in 2016.

Source - GNA

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