The United States will not dictate policies to African countries, but instead support their efforts to develop more energy capacity, using any technology they choose — be it oil, gas, geothermal, solar, or coal, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Friday.
“This government has no desire to come and tell you what you should do with your energy system,” he said at the Powering Africa Summit in Washington, D.C., adding that doing so is “so nonsensical, paternalistic, and postcolonial.”
Wright, who started his speech at the Powering Africa Summit by declaring, “I love Africa. I love Africans,” stressed the importance of energy access and the role it can play in transforming economies and the lives of women in particular.
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About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
