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Top U.S diplomat, William Fitzgerald has revealed that his country�s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Africa doubled in 2010. He said �in 2010 U.S foreign direct investments to Africa double up from about $14 million in 2006 to nearly $25 billion.� This, according to him, could be attributed to growth rates in Africa and the growing importance for American companies to work on the continent. William Fitzgerald, who doubles as Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, made this know in an interaction with international journalists via teleconference from the U.S Foreign Press Centre. Responding to a question posed by CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE on the future of Ghana�s energy sector, Mr. Fitzgerald said �it is really an exciting time to be in the energy sector in Ghana, and I think what you are seeing is very much of a commitment on the part of Ghanaian Government to embrace private sector companies to come in and do the work. �You are going to see employment levels increasing and reaching record heights. And this will cause an improvement in education and the health sector. He added that �Ghana�s energy sector is poised to take off in a big way, and there is a palpable sense of opportunity for Ghana, a palpable sense that not only in the oil and the energy sector, but all of these ancillary companies and businesses will also increase.� Mr. Fitzgerald, who was on a recent energy trade mission to Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Mozambique said �the two-week trade mission really underscores precisely what the US Government is trying to accomplish, which is to boost American private sector activities around the world, but certainly in Africa as well.� He noted that the visit helped the delegation to meet with high-ranking government officials and the private sector business men and women to look at ways to partner with some US companies in the energy sector. He described the trip as successful because �the Nigerian Government is actively trying to privatize key power plants as well as distribution networks. And that was right up our alley. �Some of the companies, Symbion Power, in particular, have partners now in Nigeria that they were able to sign up while they were there and are interested in bidding on, distribution networks, but I think they are also very interested in the power plants.� He announced that Symbion Power, which is very active in Tanzania, has a renewable energy project in that country, and the Ministers of Energy in both Ghana and Nigeria have expressed interest in it. He said �the project, which uses bamboo or sugar cane to feed the bio-fuel power plant to provide electricity for people living in the rural areas, is worth emulating.� He added that �the exciting thing about this project is that you need people to grow the sugarcane or the bamboo, and the company is able to hire a thousand people in these remote areas in Tanzanian to grow the sugarcane and the bamboo that you feed the bio-fuel power plant with. �So not only are they providing electricity but also the employment possibility for an area that is basically subsistence farmers is fabulous and very interesting.� Considering the level of investment interest that most of the American companies have shown in Africa, the continent is poised for further growth and development, he noted.