Climate change has been tough on South Africa’s emerging economy, heightening existing challenges to it and widening the gulf between sustainable and affordable economic growth. The USAID South Africa Low Emissions Development (SA-LED) program bridged the gap between public institutions and investors. Having provided comprehensive support and training for project preparation, SA-LED gave investors a…
Local governments can be particularly influential in increasing the public’s trust in governmental systems and services and motivating civic engagement. USAID’s Local Government Support Project (LGSP) assisted local governments in Moldova with designing and implementing policies that contribute to good governance. Project activities focused on improving service delivery, identifying and using financial resources, and strengthening…
Refocusing on distribution sector performance While central governments’ efforts in sub-Saharan Africa — with the support of the donor community — often focus on reducing risks to investment in new generation, the long-term financial and political sustainability of increased energy access depends equally on the success of local distribution companies. As noted in Mark Tomlinson’s…
SA-LED supports the design and implementation of municipal low-emissions development (LED) projects. What does a successful project life cycle look like and what obstacles do municipalities face during implementation? During the project life cycle, we look at two main dividends: greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and development impact. That’s what separates SA-LED’s work from other approaches…
Private investment in sub-Saharan Africa’s power sector is critical to regional economic growth. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for electricity access will require some $800 billion in investment from now until 2030. Taking no action will thwart economic growth by 2-5 percent per annum. Reducing the risks of investment is therefore key to unlocking…
This technical brief discusses the challenges in finding equitable, practical ways to accelerate and sustain power sector reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa, which also learn from public-private transactions. One way is to provide additional technical and capacity support to the public sector in combination with market development programs that match investors to new business opportunities. This…
As the energy sector continues to develop and advance throughout Africa, opportunities abound for growth, sustainability, and innovation. To explore these opportunities using a development lens, Chemonics joins key stakeholders from June 7 to 9 in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the annual Africa Energy Forum. The Africa Energy Forum is the global investment meeting for Africa’s power,…
This is a guest blog post that was originally posted on Ventures Africa. While gas shortages, inadequate transmission, and losses pose critical bottlenecks, the main challenge for the power sector in Nigeria is the lack of liquidity (or weak commercial viability) of actors along the value chain — from gas-to-power production to power generation, transmission,…
The $8.7-million program began in February 2012 in response to Haiti’s excessive charcoal production and consumption, and the resultant environmental impact, such as extensive deforestation, watershed destruction, and increased vulnerability to flooding, mudslides, and soil erosion. ICTP aimed at four intermediate results. The program worked to expand a local market for improved household biomass cookstoves; reduce charcoal consumption; strengthen the legal and…