Power Africa; Teens in Need

Power Africa

U.S. Push for a Global Clean Energy Transition Can Start in Africa!

Clem, my husband for many years, was a big fan of Power Africa, at least at first. Then he seemed to be less enthusiastic about it. He claimed it was all about small-scale generation for villages and towns.

He was right! Now that I read about it, it was for small-scale generation. Power Africa was not intended for larger systems and national grids. But today it is all about large-scale generation, transmission, and distribution.

The three writers to the blog on Power Africa say it “reflects old thinking.” They are proposing “a rare opportunity to drive innovation and job creation across the world’s poorest economies.” The three propose a new opportunity.

[. . . ] a transformative impact requires taking Power Africa to the next level. 

Today it is all about large-scale generation, transmission, and distribution. The future of Power Africa lies in power sector storage, grid solutions, and the need for action in cooling, among others.

Power Africa can now devote a portion of its $60 billion to a venture fund. This fund could enable other money to come in to the sector and be put to good use.

U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is promising to increase funding in 3 years. Some of that funding should go to the grid. It can be used directly to produce and use electricity.

The firm called “Gridworks” agrees. Simon is their CEO in London. He said in this statement recently:

[. . . ] we cannot shy away from these challenges any longer.  Without a solvent distribution sector, no country will be able to come close to reaching its connection targets, and rise to the challenge of meeting Sustainable Development Goal 7.  Pursuing that goal without addressing this sector properly is likely to damage power sectors and government finances in the long run.

Simon closed the discussion with this call to arms:

We can’t ignore the electricity industry’s challenges any longer.  A greater degree of coordination is necessary between governments, donors and investors in order to focus on the changes to the utility sector in Africa and it needs to start quickly.

And at the end, the United States needs to “meet countries where they are. This means less finger wagging, a bit more humility, and a lot more financial support for the ambitious energy transitions African countries themselves have proposed.”

The countries mentioned here – Ghana and Nigeria, among others – see “their domestic natural gas resources as key to expanding energy supply and shifting away from more carbon-intensive fuels.” They should be given every resource to accomplish this! And by the way, that will, we hope, open their markets to US products!

Teens in Need

An all-round approach to increase access to Sexual and Reproductive Health services for Nigeria’s young people.

In Nigeria today many teens are unwilling or unable to talk to their parents about sex. They are left to the conversations with their peer group. These people are not the best resource for sex advice!

Since 2016 there have been concerted efforts to reach these young women. One of the major factors is that the girls needed someone that would be there to serve them as they come, to reduce waiting times.

They eventually settled on the Primary Health Care centers. The PHCs had a lack of staff. So they were given an experienced government provider who oversees the facility.

The project (also) engaged young people who had just completed their nursing education or its equivalent, to provide the necessary services. The providers were trained to provide youth friendly counselling and modern contraceptive methods like implants, IUDs and injections. This helped reduce waiting time for the girls as there was now always someone on standby to counsel and serve them.

The learnings from this and other interventions should be replicated and upscaled across the country to help ensure that young adults are more informed about their sexual and reproductive health, are practicing safe sex, reducing their chances of contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unintended pregnancies. This will help foster a youth population that is better able to live out their dreams and aspirations.

It’s certainly a measure of success, but how many people are participating?