Obama energy policy hurts African poor

Over the next 15 years, some two billion children will be born, 90% in the poorest parts of the world. Providing these kids with a better start would be one of the greatest achievements that humanity could make. Doing so also would be one of the most efficient uses of the resources that the world dedicates to development.

Nutrition in the pre-natal stage and early childhood is fundamental to guarantee overall health and well-being.

It brings multiple benefits to the economy through a lowered rate of disease and a boost in productivity throughout life.

Yet, Ghana faces many challenges and nutrition is just one of them.

There are many potentially incredible solutions to challenges from malaria to education, from better transportation to more productive agriculture.

World leaders at the U.N. recently began a yearlong conversation about global goals for the next 15 years. Many will rightly talk about poverty, food, water and the environment. Few will mention energy. Yet we should.

Access to energy is one the most important drivers of development, e.g. improving living standards during the Industrial Revolution to more recently, helping lift 680 million Chinese out of poverty. Currently almost 3 billion people, mostly in Africa and South-east Asia, live without modern energy, instead using wood and dung as a source of fuel.