A former official working on electrification in Africa said: “USAID abruptly cut off funds that private sector partners had co-leveraged, and they took their money back. Health facilities went dark. Patients lost access to services they’d come to rely on. The State Department can relaunch a program but can’t as easily relaunch trust, with business partners or with the communities who bore the real cost of that decision. The State Department’s new initiative needs to reckon with that before asking anyone to take that risk again.”
Date: 6/26
Region: Africa
Country: Multi-country
Topic: Climate & Environment, Health
Policy Lens: Global Health Security
Entry Type: Field Observation
Additional Context: The Health Electrification and Telecommunications Alliance, or HETA, was part of Power Africa, the U.S. government's interagency initiative designed to double electricity access across sub-Saharan Africa. Bypassing local grid infrastructure shortfalls by promoting the installation of off-grid solar power systems or smart nano-grids, this five-year project was meant to bring reliable access to electricity to hospitals and clinics across the continent. Though terminated in early 2025, it had already electrified 782 facilities accessed by 11 million people across 14 countries, and worked with 44 public and private partners to leverage a total of $17.5 million.
Devex Researcher Note: Health electrification is being considered as part of some of the new America First Global Health Strategy deals. In Uganda, for example, the State Department has outlined plans to fund the electrification of 700 facilities by 2029, implemented in coordination with the local government and health ministry.
This quote is attributed to Gina Cady, former USAID manager of HETA