Can Chris Wright keep up the Power Africa spirit?

Katie Auth asks all the right questions

Awkward.

Just as the administration was shuttering USAID and firing the Power Africa team, a few blocks away, the new Energy Secretary was giving a keynote to about “the Future of the US & Africa Energy Partnership.” It could have been an embarrassing disaster. But I’m hearing mostly rave reactions.

My colleague Katie Auth, the former deputy coordinator of Power Africa, just posted her 5 hard-headed takeaways from Wright’s talk that are a must read for anyone following US energy investment in Africa. Katie shares a mix of relief, reflection, tempered optimism, and her big questions:

Will Wright have the influence and heft inside the administration to translate his personal commitment into actual policy and resources? Could his Department of Energy (despite historically not having the resources or capacities to implement large-scale programs) take over some of what USAID provided under Power Africa?

Read the whole post here. And please subscribe to her Substack here.