NRECA International was established in November 1962 when the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the newly-established U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) signed an inaugural cooperative agreement in the White House Oval Office in a ceremony witnessed by President John F. Kennedy. This began NRECA’s overseas involvement to share lessons learned in the electrification of the rural United States with developing countries around the world.
Serving as a non-profit corporation, NRECA International is committed to improve the quality of life for rural communities in developing economies by providing access to reliable and affordable electricity. For more than 50 years, 120 million people in 43 countries have benefitted from our work, and many lives in rural communities have improved in the form of agricultural productivity, improved healthcare, new jobs in micro and small enterprises, and higher incomes and quality of life.