The U.S. government has launched Connect Africa, a program that will invest more than $1 billion in projects to improve transportation, communications, and value chains across the continent.
The U.S. government will carry out the initiative through its development finance branch, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Over the next three years, OPIC plans to finance projects with companies in Zambia, Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda.
Early this month, OPIC committed $100 million in financing to a cellular communications company that will upgrade and expand telecommunication networks in Uganda, Gambia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In Uganda, OPIC will invest $58 million in projects that include a hydro power plant.
The $1 billion in financing is small compared to $60 billion that China has promised to invest in Africa.