Power Africa

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number:(0412-0586Exp.01/30/17)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

Short, One-Time Survey of Private Sector Partners under the President’s Power Africa initiative

PURPOSE: President Obama’s “Power Africa” initiative was launched in June 2013, with the stated goal of doubling access to power in Sub-Saharan Africa. Power Africa partners with African governments, multi-lateral and bilateral donors, and the private sector to achieve this ambitious goal. USAID was designated to take the lead for coordinating the activities of 12 different US government departments and agencies working together. A Coordinator’s Office for Power Africa was established within USAID.

To date, over 80 private sector companies have voluntarily committed to participate in the initiative, by promising to align their individual activities and investment plans with the goals of Power Africa and corresponding African host governments. Initially Power Africa focused its activities on only six African countries, but at the African Leaders’ Summit in August 2014, the President increased the targets for the initiative and indicated his intention to expand the activities across the continent. As part of planning for that expansion beyond the six initial focus countries, the Power Africa Coordinator’s office intends to send the attached short survey to its existing private sector partners as well as posting the survey on the web. Submission of information by any entity will be entirely voluntary. The input obtained from this one time survey will be used, together with other general input solicited from various US embassies and USAID Missions on the continent, to provide Power Africa with a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and constraints facing actors in the energy sector throughout the continent.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The Power Africa initiative currently works with approximately 80 private sector firms from around the world that have publicly announced their intention to participate in the President’s Power Africa initiative, as described above.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [X] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: __________

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name:_Karl Fickenscher, Deputy Coordinator, Power Africa _____

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X ] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No N/A

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No N/A

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Private sector firm or entity	+80	30 minutes each
Totals	+80	40 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is _$0.00_____

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ ] Yes [ X] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ X ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[X ] Other, Explain (Via Attachment to an email) See attached

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [ X ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions. Note: Agencies should only collect PII to the extent necessary, and they should only retain PII for the period of time that is necessary to achieve a specific objective.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households;(2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected per row.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

Submit all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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