A Day on Capitol Hill with Young African Leaders, Power Africa, and the Library of Congress

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Africa Policy Breakfast Series, Cote d'Ivoire, Ex-Im Bank, General Electric, Ghana, Heirs Holdings, IVLP, Karen Bass, Liberia Newspapers, Mimi Alemayehou, OPIC, Power Africa, Power Africa focus countries selection criteria, Rwanda, Shaka Ssali, Symbion Power, Togo, Tony Elumelu, YALI

The room was dominated by portraits of old white men, including one holding a poodle.

Yesterday feelings of patriotism stirred in my bosom as I attended the Africa Policy Breakfast Series sponsored by Rep. Karen Bass (D – CA), a two panel Senate hearing on Power Africa, and I then passed a few hours reading Liberian newspapers at the Library of Congress before venturing over to New America and Arizona State.  It still strikes me as pretty cool that I can rub shoulders with prominent dignitaries and attend congressional hearings in person.

‘You Can Only Squeeze so Much Out of an Orange’ – but – ‘Power Africa Provides a lot of Sunshine’: Africa Breakfast on the Hill

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Africa Congress, Ed Royce, Kamran Khan, Karen Bass, Library of Congress, MCC, Nigeria, Olufunke Osibodu, Oren Whyche-Shaw, Paul Hinks, Power Africa, Symbion Power, Tanzania, USAID

 

The back of the heads of many an African Ambassador are seen in the front row

Yesterday Morning, I attended what I believe was the fourth installment of Representative Karen Bass’ Africa Policy Breakfast Series at the Library of Congress.  This session focused on ‘Power: Eliminating a Barrier to Trade, Development and Growth in Africa.’  It featured representatives from Symbion Power, a key player in Obama’s new Power Africa Initiative, the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and a Nigerian power official.  Congressman Edward Royce gave opening remarks and Ms. Oren Whyche-Shaw, Principal Adviser to USAID’s Assistant Administrator for Africa, moderated.

The Coordinator of Obama’s Power Africa Initiative Admits it is only ‘A Drop in the Bucket’

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Andrew Herscowitz Power Africa, Andrew Herscowitz USAID, Christopher Camponovo, CSIS Africa Program, CSIS Chevron Forum, CSIS Power Africa, Obama Power Africa, Power Africa Kenya, Robert Perry Corporate Council on Africa, Symbion Power

Yesterday, CSIS convened an extremely popular panel on President Obama’s Power Africa Initiative.  For those who want more info, see a previous Africa in DC post on the topic.  I always enjoy seeing large crowds at Africanist events.  However, I must admit that it was bittersweet in this case.  The Initiative will bring money to a lot of US companies to implement work in Africa, so I suspect that for many of those in attendance, their presence was motivated more by self-interest than an altruistic desire to acquire knowledge or to improve the lives of Africans (not nearly as many people came out at the last CSIS event I attended to hear about human rights in Angola).

The highlight of the event was undoubtedly