http://www.newsweek.com/2016/07/15/kenya-solar-power-clean-energy-476915.html Auma pays for her system through a lease-to-own program run by M-Kopa Solar, a Canadian company. Customers make a small down payment and then make daily payments of pennies a day, sent via the M-Pesa mobile payment system. Solar power is rapidly spreading throughout East Africa. M-Kopa has connected 50,000 homes in Uganda and 40,000 in Tanzania. Mobisol, a German-based company that offers a similar lease-to-own service, says it has delivered electricity to more than 45,000 households and businesses in East Africa, mostly in Rwanda and Tanzania, and is planning to expand to Kenya. Orb Energy, an Indian solar energy firm, has partnered with Kenya’s local Equity Bank to advance low-interest loans for those who want to buy equipment—solar panels, and solar-powered water heaters, lamps and TVs.

In rural Kenya, reliable electricity can be life-changing. http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/four-things-know-africas-pay-go-solar-energy-market/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pierce-nahigyan/solar-power-is-freeing-ru_b_10564586.html

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https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/07/25/fact-sheet-power-africa https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/08/05/fact-sheet-powering-africa-increasing-access-power-sub-saharan-africa https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/30/fact-sheet-power-africa https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/10/22/fact-sheet-obama-administration-joins-public-and-private-sector-increase http://www.se4all.org/2015_11_03_us-white-house-launches-push-to-boost-off-grid-clean-energy-access https://www.usaid.gov/powerafrica http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-09-21/africa-left-in-dark-as-9-7-billion-obama-power-plan-falls-short President Barack Obama’s signature initiative for Africa -- a $9.7 billion plan to double electricity access in the world’s poorest continent -- has fallen well short of its goals, so far producing less than 5 percent of the new power generation it promised. [picture of M-Kopa solar behind obama, the O is Stressed, proving connection to Obama because it's like the Obama logo.] “If you look today at the number of megawatts that are actually on the grid directly related to the Power Africa initiative, it is very little,” John Rice, vice chairman of General Electric Co., said in May at the World Economic Forum in Kigali, Rwanda.

Power Africa, he said, “was a well-intentioned effort, with a lot of smart people, a lot of willing participants, financial institutions

The program’s shortfalls mean that when Obama leaves office, the nation’s first black president and the son of a Kenyan farmer won’t be able to claim a legacy-defining endeavor in Africa. By comparison, President George W. Bush’s signature initiative in Africa -- the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR -- provided drugs to fight HIV to more than 2 million people by the time he left office. General Electric declined to make Rice available for an interview. Power Africa’s leaders say they are redoubling efforts to accelerate progress. U.S. agencies announced $1 billion in new loans and financing on Wednesday for projects in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and elsewhere.

Andrew Herscowitz, Power Africa coordinator at the United States Agency for International Development. Results will take years, he said. Herscowitz said Power Africa is backing projects across the continent, showing that the private sector is responding to U.S. efforts. A burgeoning market for solar panels is cropping up in places like Rwanda and Sierra Leone, and companies have committed more than $40 billion to dozens of Power Africa projects, he said. USAID estimates the initiative will ultimately provide electricity to 60 million households in more than 20 countries. "Three years after launching Power Africa we’re seeing real progress," Obama said at the forum on Wednesday, citing solar power and natural gas projects in Nigeria and "off-grid" power generation elsewhere on the continent.

-----ah backup generators Nigerian Outages! I've read pipelines for energy in the region keep getting cut, electricity unreliable, so solar panels on rooftops would prevent this---

That’s evident on a visit to the main electronics market in Lagos, Nigeria, where shouting street vendors compete with hundreds of roaring generators that spring to life daily during power outages that last hours.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s largest concentration of people without power. More than 620 million people in the fast-growing region lack a reliable supply of electricity, according to the International Energy Agency. Power Africa enjoys some congressional support, suggesting it could survive Obama’s presidency. Representative Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the aim is for the private sector to continue to invest after Obama leaves office. He sponsored legislation, signed by Obama in February, that encourages future administrations to continue investing in Africa’s power sector.

“All of us understand that dealing in Africa in terms of development work is a long process,’’ he said. “You’ve got 600 million people in the dark in Africa without electricity --so it’s going to take time.’’ ‘Many Years’

Obama pledged to provide “light where currently there is darkness’’ and double access to power across sub-Saharan Africa when he introduced Power Africa in 2013.

The initial five-year time line for the program was later increased to 15 years, and the goal for increasing electricity access expanded to 60 million households by 2030, the target Obama cited Wednesday, up from 20 million. The initial $7 billion commitment has increased to almost $10 billion.

In Nigeria, a U.S.-backed effort to privatize power plants would add about 2,500 megawatts to the grid. In the U.S., congressional gridlock over the Export-Import Bank has handicapped progress. The bank, which lost its charter for several months last year, was slated to provide $5 billion in financing out of the initial $7 billion U.S. commitment.

It has only provided $131.5 million so far, and hasn’t approved any additional financing since July 1, 2015. An aide at the bank said Senate Republicans’ refusal to fill vacancies on its board has left financing for several Power Africa projects stuck in limbo. Without a quorum, the bank can’t approve deals worth more than $10 million.

In Nigeria, a change in political leadership, currency controls and an economic recession sparked by falling oil prices have spooked investors.

Suspended Plans

Transnational Corp. of Nigeria Plc, an affiliate of one of Power Africa’s largest partners, last month suspended plans to build a $1 billion power plant, citing a surge in militant attacks on oil pipelines. - ah HAH! Obama is behind those attacks frustrating competitors Another project, the Azura-Edo Independent Power Plant, was delayed for months due to regulatory obstacles. The 450-megawatt plant is now moving forward, in part due to legal assistance from U.S. advisers, Herscowitz said. “The regulatory environment is quite rigid,’’ said James Nicholas, co-founder of Global Business Resources USA, which plans to build two solar plants in Nigeria. “It’s bureaucratic.” Todd Moss, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, “I worry that the sustainability of the initiative is at risk when a new administration comes in and they have their own priorities,” said Moss, a former assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of African Affairs. ah so Trump will kill this deal. Royce said investors see promise in a region where many consumers spend billions of dollars on expensive and dirty diesel generators. Power Africa counts Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Citigroup Inc. among its corporate partners.

Solar companies in Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda serving thousands of customers have been funded by the program

ahah! bloomberg is the beneficiary The U.S.-Africa Business Forum is co-hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies, which manages the charitable work of Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-09-21/africa-left-in-dark-as-9-7-billion-obama-power-plan-falls-short

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About Strauss Energy

We are a limited liability company incorporated under the Kenyan Laws to provide disruptive energy solutions to meet the gaping energy deficiency in Africa and the world at large. Innovation is one of our core principals at Strauss Energy. In a country with up to 10 months of sunshine, Strauss designs building materials that capture the sun’s rays and convert them into solar energy. Building Integrated Photovoltaics or BIPV in short, is a perfect solution to the energy conundrum currently bedeviling Kenya. The solar tiles work in such a way that they can produce power that can completely sustain a modern household without the need for a secondary power source.

Working for Strauss Energy, a company she founded with her elder brother, Tony Nyagah, places a heavy load of responsibility on charity’s shoulders. The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology alumnus, who is a member of the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors, developed her career working with interior design and architectural firms as well as Aga Khan Hospital and the United Nations.