Foreign assistance

This paper reports that providing energy assistance to developing countries remains a relatively low priority of the Agency for International Development. AID is helping some developing countries meet their energy needs, but this assistance varies substantially because of the agency's decentralized structure. Most AID energy funding has gone to a handful of countries-primarily Egypt and Pakistan. With limited funding in most other countries, AID concentrates on providing technical expertise and promoting energy policy reforms that will encourage both energy efficiency and leverage investment by the private sector and other donors. Although a 1989 congressional directive to pursue a global warming initiative has had a marginal impact on the agency's energy programming, many AID energy programs, including those directed at energy conservation, help address global warming concerns