When we flip a light switch in this country, power up a computer or swipe a credit card, we take for granted that the electricity that we are going to need to do that function is going to be there. But imagine for a moment if our shops or our schools or our hospitals and our homes had absolutely no electricity, what would happen if you flipped that switch and nothing happened? Even the most industrious manufacturer would be very hard pressed to stay in business. The most dedicated surgeon would be powerless in a hospital to save lives. This is the reality throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa. Seventy percent of Africans lack access to dependable electricity. The Electrify Africa Act is a response to this massive power shortage. It offers a market-based, strategic framework to bring affordable energy that is reliable to the 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who currently have none.