Power Africa Team Wins Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal
Recognizing the work of Andrew M. Herscowitz and the U.S. Agency for International Development Power Africa team
Tetra Tech celebrates Andrew M. Herscowitz and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Power Africa team for winning a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal (Sammies) for National Security and International Affairs.
The Sammies, considered the Oscars of government service, is the premier awards program recognizing innovation in the federal government, honoring outstanding civil servants who have made significant contributions to the health, safety, and prosperity of the American people. The nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service will present the 17th annual Sammiesawards gala on Tuesday, October 2, 2018.
Herscowitz and the Power Africa team have worked to increase the number of individuals with access to power in sub-Saharan Africa since 2013. About 600 million people in the region lack access to electricity, trapping residents in poverty and stunting economic growth. Herscowitz and his team brought together technical and legal experts, private companies, financial institutions, 12 federal agencies, and governments to provide electricity to more than 50 million people in the region since 2013. The team’s 117 electrification projects have spurred economic development across sub-Saharan Africa and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in export opportunities for U.S. companies.
In 2014 USAID selected Tetra Tech to serve as the prime contractor for the Power Africa Transactions and Reform Program (PATRP), which provides technical assistance, capacity building, and transaction support services under Power Africa. Under Tetra Tech’s leadership, PATRP is supporting Power Africa’s goals of adding more than 30,000 megawatts of cleaner, more efficient electricity generation across the region and 60 million new home and business connections.
PATRP’s complexity required creating an extensive resource infrastructure, which Tetra Tech is managing, including nearly 90 power sector professionals across more than 15 countries. Under PATRP, we helped stimulate private investment in electricity expansion across the continent, resulting in more than 3 million new, direct electricity connections throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
The awards ceremony will be streamed live from Washington, DC, on the Partnership for Public Service’s Facebook and Twitter accounts beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT on October 2.
Learn more about Tetra Tech’s international energy work and USAID’s Power Africa project.
