Tanzania Focuses Providing Electricity To 90% Population By 2035

Tanzania is undergoing huge power shortage and this has led the country in weaker industrialization. To overcome the lack of reliable electricity the energy ministry has come up with master plan to boost $46.2 billion investments over the period of next twenty years.

The ministry said 70 percent of the investing to come from debt and remaining 30 percent from the government.

The updated plan notes, “The cost includes investment on generation transmission and sub-stations. Generation accounts for almost 80 percent of the total investment cost.”

The current power generation capacity is about 1,500 megawatts and in the period of next ten years the ministry hopes to increase it to 10,000 megawatts by using vast natural gas and coal reserves.

In January President John Magufuli refused to allow the debt-ridden state power supplier TANESCO to seek loan of $200 million from the World Bank and to avoid raising prices of power to cover costs.

Magufuli wants driving industrialization with cheaper electricity.

By 2015-end TANESCO had debt of about $250 million. The current figure is $363 million.

TANESCO head proposed for price hike of electricity on December 1 but was blocked by Magufuli.

Tanzania has a population of fifty million and only 40 percent of them have access to electricity. By 2035 the country aims to provide power to 90 percent of its citizens.