How a USAID exit sparked a private drive to power Africa’s health clinics

When the U.S. Agency for International Development pulled out of an ambitious health electrification program in Africa, the future of thousands of rural clinics seemed uncertain. Most projects don’t recover from the sudden loss of donor funding. Yet in Tanzania, one effort not only survived — it set the stage for a private-sector partnership now poised to electrify 50,000 facilities across 10 countries. That story, shared at Devex’s Impact House on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, became a touchstone for a wider debate: How private capital can step into roles once dominated by public aid, and what it takes to make those investments work. Panelists stressed that proof-of-concept funding, patient partnerships, and protection against currency volatility are all essential to shift more money into climate action in emerging markets. From setback to scale USAID launched the Health Electrification and Telecommunication Alliance, or HETA, to bring power to 20,000 health facilities across Africa, according to Zola Intelligence CEO Bill Lenihan, pairing donor funding with support from Bechtel, a U.S. engineering and construction firm. When the program reached Tanzania, a local company won the contract to electrify about 1,000 clinics and turned to Zola Intelligence, a renewable energy provider, for the technology. Within a month, those clinics were running on reliable power — proof, Lenihan said, that the model could work at speed and scale. After HETA was dismantled, the program’s formal structure collapsed. Bechtel — already part of HETA — then approached Zola to continue the work as a privately backed effort. “They came over and they said, ‘Hey, we think we can continue this. We’ll need to figure out a way to bring in capital because USAID and their relationships aren’t bringing capital in .... But we’ve already proven sustainability. We’ve already proven a financeable project. So why don’t we see if we can do more?’” Lenihan recalled. And now, following six months of planning, the two companies have today announced a partnership that they hope will expand the model to 50,000 facilities across 10 countries. “In a perverse way, the decline of USAID was the catalyst that was needed in order to drive private investment into what we're doing,” Lenihan said. Nancy Pfund, founder of DBL Partners — an early investor in Zola — said the case showed why persistence matters in markets where commercial investors are often reluctant to engage. She credited Zola’s long track record of working with governments, NGOs, and development banks to build trust. “There’s just a pattern of trust building and experimentation that led you to this ability to scale,” she said. Lenihan underscored the structural hurdles private investors face in emerging markets. Proving viability is essential, as is shielding projects from financial volatility. “What’s the biggest impediment to emerging market investment? It’s currency risk. It’s interest rate costs, mostly driven by volatility of currencies. Private institutions can’t solve that problem. But governments and development agencies can help hedge against that,” he said. Currency volatility means local currencies can swing sharply against the dollar or euro, making it more expensive to borrow or repay loans. For investors, that risk can wipe out profits, so even viable projects struggle to attract capital without protection from governments or development banks. The contrast with wealthier markets is stark. “If I had this program and I was solving this in the United States, I wouldn’t need to prove it to raise money. Money would be raised. That’s not the case in emerging markets, you have to prove it,” he added. María Fernanda Espinosa, the former U.N. General Assembly president, broadened the lens. She welcomed the private sector’s growing role in renewable energy and sustainable food systems but cautioned that the proliferation of initiatives still lacks a coherent system for oversight. “And we really need to have proper tracking mechanisms, to have proper accounting, especially in the climate space. Because we have so many good initiatives,” she said. “The private sector is coming in big time with renewable energy. The private sector is coming big time, investing in food systems that are sustainable and low-carbon. But, where is the accounting of this?” she asked. Espinosa closed by calling for stronger oversight, saying climate finance needs clear accounting to show where money is flowing and where the gaps remain. “We need a common cause and a vision of where we’re going,” she said.