MODERATOR:  So good afternoon and welcome again to our luncheon for the Africa regional journalists based here in Johannesburg, which is where the U.S. Department of State’s Africa Regional Media Hub is also based.  We’re now pleased to begin the on-the-record portion of today’s event, and for that we are privileged to be joined via video link from Washington, D.C., by Laura Whitman, who is the country manager for Africa and the Middle East at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.  And USTDA is the U.S. Government’s first mover on critical infrastructure development in emerging markets.  It advances shared strategic priorities of the United States and our overseas partners, and so we’ve invited Laura to discuss why U.S. investment in African infrastructure and critical minerals benefits both the United States and Africa.

As a reminder, today’s briefing is on the record, and you may quote Ms. Whitman by her name and title.  We’ll begin with some opening remarks from our guests and then turn to your questions.  We have about 30 minutes, so we probably won’t have time for all of our questions.  We also had some questions that were asked in advance that we’ll begin with.  And then I’d just – I’d like to ask us all just to please frame your questions to USTDA’s support for American technology to secure and modernize African energy infrastructure, as opposed to other topics outside of USTDA’s mandate.

With that, Laura, welcome again, and the floor is yours.

MS WHITMAN:  Thank you.  Thanks so much for having me.  I have to say, I’m just sad that I’m not in person.  It looks like you all are having a great time.  (Laughter.)  But as Phillip mentioned, I’m Laura Whitman.  I cover the U.S. Trade and Development Agency’s energy work across all of Africa and the Middle East.  And it sounds like, Phillip, you got our talking points down great, but I will give just an overview of USTDA a bit more.

As mentioned, we are the U.S. Government’s first mover on critical infrastructure development abroad.  And what that means is we fund the very early-stage upfront planning that accelerates the development of infrastructure projects.  So what that looks like is feasibility studies, technical assistance, and pilot projects, which are really the critical tools for defining a project’s design options and attracting the financing that it will need for implementation and so that these partners can buy U.S. goods and services.

Really importantly, U.S. industry carries out USTDA’s work.  So this enhances the U.S. competitiveness, facilitates U.S. jobs through exports, and helps us counter America’s economic adversaries in the markets that we’re working in.

USTDA also hosts, sort of in addition to our feasibility study work, partnership-building activities, and these activities promote exclusive infrastructure partnerships with the United States, really with the goal of advancing the use of American technology in critical infrastructure projects overseas.  And we do these types of activities because we really believe that partnerships are foundational to infrastructure development.  And as these first movers, we think it’s our responsibility to set projects on the right track from the very beginning by pulling together all of the right partners.  And that includes project developers from across Africa, U.S. engineering companies, technology suppliers, government agencies, as well as financiers.

And you may have seen some press, some news about our recent visit from delegates from Southern Africa, which included delegates from Mozambique, Botswana, Angola, and Zambia.  And these are really key markets in Southern Africa’s power sector.  And our delegates were looking to modernize and expand their transmission and distribution infrastructure.

They talked about on the trip – and I was fortunate to get to travel with them throughout the United States – they talked about challenges with integrating intermittent resources, addressing the growing demand that they’re seeing in industrialization, as well as managing increased connectivity, interconnectivity across the Southern African power pool.

So these are all challenges that were discussed with U.S. industry where they could really brainstorm best practices, how to address them, and also be introduced to U.S. technologies and solutions that could help them mitigate these challenges, basically.

We planned meetings for them across Denver, Colorado, and Austin, Texas.  We try to take our delegates to various cities across the United States so they can see a variety of different installations and examples that we have in the U.S. of our energy system.  So we had them meet with companies, of course, but also with regulators, which is important to understand best practices; with sort of innovating institutions like the National Labs; as well as financing partners that can share innovative solutions and share best practices to advance their infrastructure development.

So that’s just one example of our work, and I’m happy to share more throughout our call.  But I think at a high level, it’s important to also note that USTDA’s work does have a real impact.  Our work generates results that make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous, which includes $226 in U.S. exports on average for every dollar that the agency programs.  And since the beginning of our agency, for more than 30 years, USTDA has facilitated more than $127 billion of U.S. exports to these infrastructure projects that we’re supporting in emerging markets.

So I just wanted to leave you with that quick overview, and I look forward to sharing more about our energy sector work across Southern Africa, and also can talk about the broader Africa region as well throughout this call, and look forward to your questions.

MODERATOR:  Great.  Thank you, Laura.  That’s a great introduction.  I appreciate it.  I do want to point out to everyone in the room, we’ll have a transcript for you as well.  That might be helpful for you.

We have some questions.  Pamela, who’s at the front of the table, has submitted some questions in advance.  We’ll start with yours.  I’ll just go ahead and read them.  The first is that USTDA is expected to discuss a new feasibility study.  Could you provide more details about this project, including the countries involved, its objectives, and the expected impact on local communities?

MS WHITMAN:  Yes.  I’m very excited to be sharing details about this project.  It will be more formally announced in just a couple of weeks, but we were too excited, so we wanted to give you all a sort of a sneak preview about this activity, because I think it’s a really great example of the types of work that we’re looking at in Central and Southern Africa in the energy sector, and really where the administration is trying to prioritize investment.  And that’s really around these corridor initiatives, which are really important to securing U.S. critical mineral supply chains and enabling the flow of goods throughout the corridor region.

So this activity specifically is going to be looking at strengthening the power infrastructure along the Lobito Corridor specifically.  And the Lobito Corridor, I think as we know, is a key logistics route in Central and Southern Africa that’s vital to diversifying U.S. critical mineral supply chains.  The countries that are involved in this activity include, of course, those countries that are in the Lobito Corridor area, so specifically the DRC and Zambia.  And so, like all of our studies, this activity that we’ll be funding will provide our partner with the technical analysis that they need, the commercial structure needed to develop the project and ultimately bring in financing to implement this power infrastructure.

And this is, again, a great example of the work we’re trying to do in the region and to do more of, because there’s a real challenge where mining activity is taking up most of the available power and leaving households and local businesses underserved.

So I think this project is a good way of showing that we are able to support critical minerals mining operations, processing, and value addition.  We’re able to bring improved power reliability for these things for copper and cobalt mining operations in the region.  We’re able to reduce these mining operators’ reliance on costly diesel generation for mining companies along the corridor.  But also, very importantly, we’re bringing new electricity access for more than 3 million homes and businesses in the region.  So those communities, those homes and businesses that are near the mining sites or along the corridor route, will also be impacted.

So it’s a great example of how the power infrastructure needed for these heavy industries for critical minerals has a follow-on effect for communities as well.

MODERATOR:  Wow, that’s great.  Another question from Pamela:  “Energy and port infrastructure remain critical challenges across Africa.  What criteria does USTDA use when selecting projects and partner countries for support?”

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah, that’s a great question.  And I should note, we of course do projects in energy as well as port infrastructure.  Our priority sectors include energy, critical minerals, transportation – which includes port infrastructure – as well as digital infrastructure.  And our criteria for these projects is the same across the board.  We’re looking for projects that are mutual strategic priorities of the United States and of our partners.

So that’s really our threshold consideration, is looking at whether an infrastructure project directly advances the priorities of the U.S. and our partner, and we work with qualified public and private sector entities that are committed to working in partnership with the United States.  So they want to be reaching to the U.S. for technology solutions, for best practices, and we’re working towards these shared security objectives together.

We’re also looking for projects that have the potential to source goods and services, equipment, technology from the United States.  That is within our mandate, is to support U.S. jobs through exports.  So all of the projects that we support will have that potential; they’ll be competitive sectors for U.S. industry.

And then lastly is financing.  We want projects that are going to have a strong likelihood of ultimately receiving implementation financing from private banks, from multilateral development banks, as well as from, of course, U.S. Government partners like the Export-Import Bank of the U.S., as well as the International Development Finance Corporation, or DFC.

So that’s our criteria, and we’re looking for partners who are able to really bring all of the pieces together, who have experience in the sector and in the region, and are able to really meet the challenge of getting these really complex projects across the finish line in complicated markets across Africa.

MODERATOR:  Great.  If anyone has any other questions right now, otherwise I’ll jump in – we’ve got more.  Yeah, sure.

QUESTION:  I just want to – sorry, here.

MODERATOR:  Sure.

QUESTION:  Carien du Plessis from The Africa Report.  I had a follow-on on your energy – the remarks you made about the energy, providing electricity.  What sources are you thinking of?  Is it green energy, nuclear, anything else?

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah, it’s a great question.  And really USTDA is taking sort of an all-of-the-above energy approach.  We are open to any energy technology where U.S. firms are competitive.  And ultimately, we want to support our partners in the projects that they want to do and that are really priorities for them.  So we’re looking for projects, again, that just have that opportunity for U.S. commercial engagement and that meet our partners’ goals.  And that could be hydro, it could be natural gas, it could be geothermal – we’re looking at sort of all sources.  That project specifically is, I believe, mostly hydro power.  So we’re looking really at all sources that are going to meet our partners’ needs, and again, that U.S. companies are competitive in providing those solutions.

MODERATOR:  All right.  Another one down here.

QUESTION:  Good morning for you.  On the same subject, I’m trying to get more details about your project.  Are you talking about generating electricity that will be connected to the national grid, or that would be directly directed to the mines so that it can alleviate the national grid for the population?

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah, that’s a great question.  And it will be doing both, actually.  So there will be opportunities to basically distribute power directly to mining entities as sort of anchor off-takers to make the case, the commercial case, for the project.  But the project will also be looking at rehabilitating, extending, and modernizing the grid network that’s existing.  So that will also help, again, get the power to communities as well as households that are looking for electricity.

QUESTION:  And if I may, just another question.  You’re talking about partner; I understand you’re referring to private entities like U.S. companies.  But are you looking at some kind of private-public deals where the government in both countries, Zambia and DRC, would be involved in those companies?  Or are we – you are thinking 100 percent private U.S. entities?

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah.  And again, more will be shared about the partner that we’re working with specifically in just a couple of weeks.  But I can say to all of our projects, we’re looking for buy-in from the government as well.  So we want to ensure that all of the projects we’re supporting are aligned with what the government’s objectives are in the energy sector.  But we do work with both public and private sector entities as well as PPP models where the government is also involved.

MODERATOR:  Sure.

QUESTION:  Hi.  Rachel Savage from The Guardian.  I wanted to pick up something you said in your introduction that the work that you guys are doing helps us counter our economic adversaries.  I wonder if you could be a bit more specific about who the economic adversaries are.  And does the U.S. these days purely see this arena as, like, competition and sort of winner-takes-all black and white, or are there any circumstances in which there could be cooperation with some of these adversaries?

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah.  I mean, I think that the competition in the energy sector, especially in Africa, is very clear.  And what we want to do ultimately is help U.S. companies win.  So we’re looking at projects that are competitive for U.S. companies, and there’s always partners that are from other countries that are also competitive – whether that’s Europe, whether that’s other markets.  Not to say that Europe would be an economic adversary, but there are other markets that I think you all know that are, in the sense that they have sort of additional state-sponsored support that makes sort of an unfair playing field.

So USTDA’s objective is to level that playing field, to provide the early-stage support where our partners really need it, and to bring U.S. companies into the fold as early as possible.  So that’s our objective, and that’s sort of how we’re helping U.S. companies win on these deals.

MODERATOR:  Next question, also from Pamela Koumba, thank you.  Sorry, I’m reading yours out loud here.  (Laughter.)  “How does USTDA ensure that its infrastructure investments contribute to job creation, skills development, and long-term economic growth in African countries?”

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah.  As mentioned, we work with public and private sector partners to advance really their own project priorities, which is, I think, really critical to ensuring that we’re meeting the countries’ development targets, objectives, that we’re looking at projects that are within their sort of master planning agendas, to ensure that we’re meeting their needs, and of course bringing in U.S. companies along the way.

But all of the sectors we work in are really sectors that are key for economic growth across the board.  So again, that’s energy, digital, transportation, and critical minerals, where we’re seeing growth in these markets, where we’re seeing opportunity.  In all of our studies being carried out by U.S. firms, we’re enabling them to be designed to the highest standards.  So that really ensures that the projects that ultimately get implemented have long-term sustainability and can really add value to the country over the long term.  So that’s how we’re able to advance some of these objectives and meeting our African partners’ goals for job creation, for skills development, and long-term economic growth of course.

MODERATOR:  Great.  Okay, next question:  “Many African countries are seeking finance for major infrastructure projects.  How does USTDA collaborate with African governments, local businesses, and other development partners to mobilize investment?”

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah, I think I covered our partnership-building activities as far as reverse trade missions, which are a great example of how we’re bringing African counterparts to the United States, really having those two-way partnership conversations and building relationships that way.  We also do host – we call them forums, where we’ll go actually to Africa and we’ll host a forum in certain markets for a day or two, where we can, again, sort of have these conversations about best practices, about regulatory models, about financing solutions, as well as bringing in U.S. industry solutions to some of the challenges that our partners are facing.  So just another platform where we’re able to have sort of that engagement with African governments, local businesses, as you mentioned, and financiers.

I think another avenue sort of to mention is that USTDA really leverages our partnerships with regional development finance institutions.  So we have formal engagements and informal engagements with many of the known players, like DBSA, like AFTB, and the Trade and Development Bank, TDB, where we can combine USTDA’s project preparation expertise with our partners’ resources as strategic connections to ensure that our projects reach bankability.  So this lets a relatively small agency amplify its reach across many more projects than we would be able to fund alone.

And I think, really importantly, these are the entities that are on the ground with a nuanced understanding of the African context that can really help us guide our investments and help our projects reach financial close.  So these partnerships are really important to also ensuring that the work that we’re doing, that we’re funding at the earliest stages, is directly addressing their lending requirements.

So I think that these are ways that we’re able to partner across the board with these large financial institutions, with governments, partners that we’re inviting on our reverse trade missions, of course with private developments likewise that we’re engaging with on these events to make sure that we’re really keeping those partnerships across the board.

MODERATOR:  Francois, did you have one?

QUESTION:  Yeah, but it’s just —

MODERATOR:  Certainly.

QUESTION:  I’m trying to understand – I know you can’t say in details what, but I’m trying to understand what you’re going to announce in the couple of weeks.  Is it like you’ve done feasibility studies where you have identified places, like in Lualaba Province or in the Copperbelt, we could build a hydro plant here that would generate – I don’t know how many – power annually?  Is this – this or already you have in mind you’re going to present us an entire project where the people who get the concession have been chosen, the financing has already been decided?  What are we to expect, basically?

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah.  So USTDA comes in at the very early stages.  So what we’ll be announcing is essentially our funding of the feasibility study.  So we’ll be funding a feasibility study to help them define the project, to help them provide the commercial analysis and structuring that’s needed to ultimately then get financing.  But it’s a very early-stage project, as all of our projects are, looking forward – again, that funding for feasibility study stage.

QUESTION:  Okay.  Thanks.

MODERATOR:  Anyone else?  I’ve got another – yeah, sure.

QUESTION:  Yeah.  I just have a question about the ports.  In which countries are you planning to get involved in in port infrastructure?  I’m – yeah, I see there’s going to be briefing on port security in a week or so.  Is that what you’ll be focusing on or – yeah.

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah.  So I cover our energy work, so I’m not able to dive into the specifics of all of our port work.  But we do have an engagement coming up just next week, again, with delegates from southern Africa.  So that will be an exciting opportunity, and they’ll be looking at port security and modernization.  And I think there will be – there’ll be more information coming soon.  There’ll be a press release that should be out in the next couple of days.

QUESTION:  But she doesn’t have the countries?

MODERATOR:  Oh, the – do you know the countries – what else?

QUESTION:  Ports.  Yeah.  Which ports?

MODERATOR:  Oh.  Are you able to say which ports or which countries are involved?

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah, I don’t have that information.  I know the one that’s coming forward is for southern Africa, but I don’t have the information on specific ports.  But we invite many of the relevant entities and government counterparts.

MODERATOR:  Yeah.  Thank you.  Great.  Another one from Pamela, who is great with a lot of good questions.  (Laughter.)   In an increasingly competitive global – thank you.  “In an increasingly competitive global environment, what distinguishes USTDA’s approach to supporting infrastructure development in Africa?  And what new opportunities can African countries expect in the coming years?”

MS WHITMAN:  That’s a great question, and I – I was thinking through answers.  I really – what I think stands out and what distinguishes our approach from others – I mean, of course there are entities that provide similar support that we do, and I think what makes USTDA really unique is really just factually the expertise and the innovation that U.S. industry can bring to the table.  Obviously we have companies across the energy sector that have really exciting new solutions that they’re bringing to the table that we’re able to apply to our projects that we’re supporting overseas.  So I really just – I think U.S. industry is where we really see that coming that distinguishes our approach from others.

Of course, also we’re always partnering with our counterparts across Africa to make sure that we are enabling them and empowering them to develop the projects that they see fit for their markets.  So I think that that’s where USTDA’s value-add comes in.  We are able to put projects on the right track and ultimately set our partners up for success and as they move on towards financing, towards implementation.  So anyways, I think that that’s what makes USTDA a bit unique.

And as far as opportunities that African countries can expect, I think we all see tons of opportunity across all the sectors we work in.  I think across energy we’ll be seeing lots of opportunity in oil and gas, looking at midstream and downstream solutions in transmission and distribution, where countries are starting to interconnect and have operational power pools.  We’ll see lots of those activities – there are projects that are able to support that work – and lots of generation that’s needed, of course, to support rising demand and industrialization.  So USTDA’s open to looking at opportunities across the board, and I think we really rely on our African partners to show us what those priorities are.

MODERATOR:  Great.  Yeah.

QUESTION:  Hello.  Can you hear me?

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah.

QUESTION:  Okay, cool.  So with Lobito Corridor, for instance, I just want to sort of see where you fit in – what was the work that USTDA and the funding that you put into Lobito Corridor?  And then once you’ve done what you need to do, so in terms of feasibility studies, how do you then take it to the next step?  Like do you approach the private companies or does the government take it further through U.S. EXIM Bank?  So where do you sit?

And then how much typically is your – how big is your ticket sort of size usually as USTDA?  Like how far can you take it?

MS WHITMAN:  Mm-hmm.  Yeah.  And I’ll answer your last question first.  Our ticket size is not a set or standard size.  We really want to look at the projects for what they are and what they need as far as development work that’s needed.  And we want to make sure that we can get them to a bankable stage while also coming in at a time that can really catalyze our investment most effectively.  Our goal at the end of the day, because we don’t provide implementation financing, is to crowd in other sources of financing.  So that’s really why we sort of try to find the sweet spot for USTDA to come in, catalyze that further investment, and then our partners can go further and get implementation financing for their projects.

Yeah, and as far as how we sort of bridge that gap – I think is sort of the question – from feasibility study to financing, there are many strategies I think that we utilize.  And of course, as I mentioned, we have partnerships with many financiers across the continent, not just with EXIM and DFC, who of course are our sister agencies that we engage with almost daily, but with partners across the continent as well who are able to pick up the torch and invest in some of these projects.  And we’re engaging with them often, sharing pipeline, trying to streamline investment decisions for them by funding the work that we’re funding and making sure that they have an input into the scope at times so that we can really bridge that gap a bit more easily.

We do also have that we’re hopefully – we’re in the process of hiring for, but we do typically have on our team a financing and implementation manager, which is a really critical position for our team, someone who is able to maintain those relationship with financiers and is also able to engage with us at the earlier stage, funding the feasibility study work.  So that person is able to help bridge the gap as well.  All of our feasibility studies include a financing task, which includes work to reach out to financiers, to develop financing models that will make sense for the project, and even at sometimes hosting a financing webinar or introducing the developer directly to financiers.

So I think there are a lot of different types of solutions we can use to help bridge that gap.  Because we don’t provide implementation financing, we want to set our partners on the right track for once the feasibility study is complete.

QUESTION:  Sorry, just one follow-up.  So how do you originate these projects and how do you prioritize?  For instance, I think recently we sort of looked at USTDA being interested in uranium in Namibia, but I mean, it’s like so many different countries with so many different priorities.  So how do you do the origination?

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah.  All of our projects come to us through various channels.  So they can come to us through, for example, U.S. industry that’s really interested in doing the project in a specific market.  They would have to have a partnership, of course, with a local sponsor, an in-country project sponsor, and they can come to us with this project concept.  We also do our own business development, where I’m traveling out to the region all the time to meet with counterparts in the public and private sector to hear from them what their project priorities are.  And of course, we’re sort of putting all of this together to put together our priority or our pipeline list for the year.

And really the way that we prioritize is looking for projects that meet those three objectives that we have, which is looking at are they advancing shared strategic priorities of the U.S. and our partner countries.  So things like supporting the Lobito Corridor, things like supporting AI development, things like supporting critical minerals.  Those are clear priorities of the administration, where we’re able to use that as a sort of lens to prioritize projects.

And then we’re also looking for projects that have the greatest potential for U.S. exports.  So that’s sort of the second guiding factor.  And then, of course, also looking to advance the development priorities of our partners.  So all of those factors we’re looking at to put together into a pipeline list and prioritizing the projects that we’re able to bring forward each year.

MODERATOR:  Great.  Thanks.  We have time for just one more question, and if no one else has one, we do have another one from Pamela.  (Laughter.)  All right.  So – yes.  Over here.  Sorry.  Yes.

QUESTION:  Laura, Jacob here, Portuguese desk.  So I’ll ask my question in Portuguese.  Just joking.  (Laughter.)  Right, Laura, a lot has been said about Lobito Corridor, and it involves DRC, which we know the situation in that country is in conflict and so on.  What is USTDA doing to assist in resolving the issues in that country?  And are you – besides DRC, Angola, and Zambia, are you – what are you doing to extend beyond those countries to the rest of the African continent?  Thank you.

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah.  No, thank you for the question.  And yeah, USTDA, we are not a policy organization and we are not an aid organization.  We really are focused on infrastructure development.  So yeah, of course there are a lot of challenges in the region, not just in the DRC.

But what USTDA does is we aim to help our countries – our partner countries – develop the infrastructure that they need to develop and to move – to advance, whether it’s a regulatory issue or to have healthier communities.  Obviously, in the power sector, that’s really critical for having power in hospitals to lights in schools.  All of that is important to helping solve the many issues in a lot of the countries that we’re working in.

So yeah, I don’t know if there’s a specific issue you’re thinking of, but that’s sort of how we see our work as really being critical to help our countries really from the literal ground up.  Before a project – there’s even a shovel in the ground, we are helping to develop the infrastructure that they need to reach those development objectives and solving their own challenges.

And as far as I know, this sort of conversation was brought up because of our work that was recently publicized in Southern Africa, but I certainly don’t want to ignore the rest of the continent.  We have a ton of work across the continent.  We are active in many countries, where we’re doing work across all of our sectors: energy, digital, critical minerals, and transportation.  And I think we have quite a robust portfolio.  I think it would be impossible, probably, right now to list all of the activities that we’re doing, but a good opportunity, a good plug to go to our website and look at some of the recent press releases and activities we’re doing across the continent.

MODERATOR:  That’s a great message to end on.  Yeah, Laura, that’s – and everyone, that’s all the time we have for questions.  But Laura, I’d like to pass it back to you if there’s any final words you’d like to offer before we close out.

MS WHITMAN:  Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you.  Really appreciated the opportunity to get to speak to you all today.  I hope you have a great rest of your day and your visit, and thanks for all the questions and the interest in USTDA.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Thank you.  I’d like to – thank you.  (Applause.)  I’d like to thank Laura Whitman, country manager for Africa and the Middle East at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, for joining us.  Thank you, Laura.