WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Joe Biden is touting a new $375 million deal between the U.S. and Benin to invest in the African country’s electric power sector.
Biden was joined by Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi at the White House Wednesday as officials signed the five-year Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact. The deal will help fund electricity distribution, off-grid access, oversight and policy reform.
Biden says the deal will encourage economic growth. He adds that “giving people hope is sometimes more consequential than giving them help.”
The pact advances Power Africa’s goals to increase access to affordable electricity, and investments in renewable energy. It is the U.S. government’s largest off-grid electrification project in a single country to date.
Biden said both countries also have a shared commitment to democracy, good governance and human rights.