USTDA Regional Brief - Sub-Saharan Africa

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) places a high priority on sub-Saharan Africa in supporting projects designed to facilitate economic development. In fact, one of the agency's first grants was signed in Tanzania in 1981. Since then, USTDA has invested over $90 million in the region, which have resulted in over $1 billion in U.S. exports associated with partnerships between African project sponsors and U.S. firms. The downstream impact of USTDA funding is expected to increase substantially as more projects move toward implementation. As the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) continues to raise interest in African private sector expansion, USTDA expects a continued demand for its specialized funding services in the region.

USTDA advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, early investment analysis, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment. USTDA's strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development.

The following list describes some recent projects USTDA has supported in Sub-Saharan Africa:

Regional

West Africa ICT Road Map to Opportunities Conference – USTDA cosponsored an ICT conference with the U.S. State Department and the Government of Ghana that brought leading policy makers from West Africa together with U.S. companies and policy makers to discuss regional ICT issues. The conference was held on July 8 – 10, 2008 in Accra, Ghana and was well attended by senior West African leadership.

Sub-Saharan Africa Aviation Safety and Security Conference – This two-and-a-half-day conference will promote advanced U.S. technical approaches and collaboration in sub-Saharan Africa’s rapidly growing aviation market, and encourage high-level dialogue to address key issues related to air traffic management and control, aviation security, and airspace utilization throughout the region. The aim of this conference is to sustain the long-term strategic and commercial relationship between the sub-Saharan African and U.S. aviation industries as well as present substantial commercial value to U.S. equipment and service suppliers of avionics and aviation-related technology and services. The MFM Group is organizing the conference, which will be held in the United States in the fall of 2009.

East African Community (EAC) Transportation Dialogue – USTDA, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation, will fund an orientation visit to the United States for trade, transportation, and infrastructure development ministers and senior officials from EAC countries to engage senior-level U.S. government policy officials, development assistance agencies, and U.S. private sector companies on transportation needs in East Africa. The program will be funded as part of USTDA’s African Trade Lanes Partnership initiative. The EAC ministerial delegation visited Washington, DC in the fall of 2008 to discuss regional solutions to infrastructure challenges.

COMESA Aviation Technical Assessment – A $294,900 technical assistance grant to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa is supporting the definition of technical and professional capabilities in air traffic management in eight COMESA member states (Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Seychelles). It complements two similar USTDA-financed studies currently being developed with the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community. DORS Inc. was selected to provide the USTDA-funded assistance. The technical assessment was completed in April 2008 and the report is currently available in USTDA’s library.

Angola

Electricity Distribution Rehabilitation and Hydropower Development – USTDA is providing a $626,850 grant to fund technical assistance to the Angolan Ministry of Energy and Water Affairs (MEWA) to help develop master plans for two interior cities, Cuchi and Luena, to implement a modern electricity distribution system with increased generation capacity from small hydroelectric plants. The Angolan government is prioritizing more efficient means of power generation and distribution to spur economic growth. The contractor selection process is ongoing.

Botswana

Mmamabula Coal-Fired Power Plant – USTDA approved a $368,270 grant to fund financial advisory assistance to the Ministry of Minerals, Energy, and Water Resources. The purpose is to provide advice to the Ministry on the financial and economic viability of developing an export power station at the Mmamabula site. The assistance also includes providing strategic advice on how to develop a financing plan for the power plant. Delphos International was selected to carry out this technical assistance.

Cameroon

Limbe Gas to Electricity Technical Assistance $695,000 – This technical assistance, approved in 2008, will assist the Government of Cameroon’s Ministry of Energy and Water Resources to unite the parties involved in the Limbe Gas-To-Electricity Project to develop the commercial off-shore gas reserves, as well as evaluate the feasibility of a 400 MW combined power plant. The feasibility study will examine the conversion to gas of an existing 85 MW heavy fuel-oil burning reciprocating power plant and the concomitant green-field construction of a 315 MW combined cycle gas-turbine power plant. In addition, the study will examine the transformer banks and power lines needed to deliver the power generated to the national power grid. The resulting plant will to alleviate severe seasonal electricity shortages that have depressed Cameroon’s GDP. The contractor for this study will be competitively selected.

Ghana

Leasing Market Development – USTDA approved a $360,000 grant for the Ghana Association of Leasing Companies for technical assistance in creating appropriate business models for agricultural leasing in Ghana and educate stakeholders on conducting leasing in rural Ghana. The grant complements the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s $547 million compact in Ghana to reduce poverty by raising farmer incomes through private sector-led agribusiness development The technical assistance will enable the development of an agricultural leasing sector in Ghana, which would promote mechanized farming and higher crop yields.

Liberia

Greater Monrovia Fiber Optic Ring Feasibility Study – USTDA is providing funding in the amount of $303,000 to the Liberia Telecommunications Corporation (LTC) for a feasibility study to assess the technical and financial viability of a metropolitan fiber optic ring around Liberia’s capital city, Monrovia. The feasibility study will focus on identifying appropriate financial, regulatory, and business models for the development of the fiber optic ring. The contractor, eKohs Inc., was competitively selected for this study.

Malawi

Implementation Plan for the Modernization of the Malawi Department of Civil Aviation – This $460,000 technical assistance grant is assisting the Malawi Ministry of Transport and Public Works in establishing an autonomous civil aviation authority with a supportive legal and regulatory framework and adequate institutional capabilities. Nathan and Associates was competitively selected to perform this assistance.

Mali

Waste to Energy Plant – USTDA is providing funding of $371,000 to partially fund a Feasibility Study to assess the technical and financial feasibility of constructing, financing and operating a 25MW waste to energy (WTE) power plant, as well as operating an upgraded waste management system designed to assure sufficient feedstock to the WTE plant in Bamako, Mali. The contractor for the feasibility study is VICA Technologies, and is cost sharing an additional $371,000, bringing the total study budget to $742,000.

Namibia

Independent Power Producer (IPP) and Investment Market Framework – USTDA has sponsored two technical assistance grants to the Namibian Electricity Control Board (ECB), the electricity regulatory body of Namibia. Under the first grant, USTDA provided $275,000 to fund Phase I technical assistance in the development of a formalized electricity market model that will facilitate investment by the private sector into Namibia’s energy market. In Phase II, USTDA is providing $423,790 to facilitate the establishment of commercially viable IPP projects in Namibia by enabling ECB to perform the regulatory functions necessary for issuing licenses for IPP projects. CORE International was competitively selected to conduct Phase I and will perform the Phase II on a sole-source basis.

Niger

National ICT Backbone Network – USTDA is funding a $442,000 feasibility study grant to Seaquest-Infotel Niger S.A., a Nigerien company, to assess the technical and financial viability of a fiber optic backbone project in Niger. Seaquest-Infotel plans to build a fiber optic backbone infrastructure to support ICT infrastructure development in Niger, transport voice and data, as well as radio and television signals on a nationwide and regional basis. The USTDA-funded feasibility study will focus on identifying appropriate financial, regulatory, and business models for the development of the project.

South Africa

Coega LNG Regasification Project – USTDA is funding a $146,560 orientation visit (OV) focused on the proposed LNG regasification and power plant project in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The OV will allow key decision makers the opportunity to meet with U.S. suppliers and potential private sector partners, and feature visits to Washington DC, New York City, and Houston over a period of 10 business days.

Tanzania

Capacity Building for the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority – This $623,580 technical assistance project is aimed at supporting efforts to promote private investment and growth in the Tanzania’s energy sector. The grant to the Tanzanian Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA) will be used to assist in establishing operational protocols in the implementation and enforcement of electricity, petroleum and natural gas regulations based on international best practices. Selection of the contractor to carry out the technical assistance work is in progress.

Uganda

Balancing Biofuels and Food Security – This $527,280 technical assistance activity is to support the Ugandan Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD) in preparing a strategy and regulatory structure for the development of an indigenous biofuels industry in Uganda. Uganda is currently facing an energy crisis, as drought has severely reduced the capacity of its hydroelectric power production, and rising oil prices have increased the costs of transport and thermal power production. The development of renewable energy resources, especially biofuels, is a top priority for the Ugandan government.

Zambia

Airports Master Plan Feasibility Study – USTDA is providing $725,000 to the Zambian Ministry of Transport to develop a master plan for the four international airports of Lusaka, Livingstone, Ndola, and Mfuwe. The study will design an implementation plan for the improvement and rehabilitation of the four airports. The Government of Zambia (GOZ) has placed the highest priority on the development of these four airports for 2006-2010. The Ministry of Transport will competitively select the contractor to perform this study.