- AfDB will provide $100m for electricity connection in Uganda.
- The government aims to connect 87,500 households under its Umeme electricity distribution footprint.
- The funds will help Uganda to meet its electrification rate target of 60 per cent by 2027.
The government of Uganda has secured $100milion in funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to connect new electricity customers under its Umeme electricity distribution footprint. According to the government, up to 87,500 no-pole of the 250,000 applicants will benefit from the funding. Ruth Nankabirwa, the Energy and Mineral Development Minister, noted that the funds would intensify the government’s efforts towards evacuating power to Ugandans.
Blessing Nshaho, the Chief Corporate and Regulatory Officer at Umeme, disclosed that the utility company has already connected 22,371 consumers of the 87,500 applicants. “We expect to complete the pending connections by the end of this year. Under Luuka District, we have so far received 500 applications from customers who are eligible to be connected under the AfDB funding, with a target of 825 connections and a target of 2,032 connections for the Greater Iganga Area,” Nshaho added. The last-mile connections only apply to applicants that have wired their homes, passed inspection and only require a no-pole connection.
AfDb’s Country Manager, Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, stated that the project would add at least 164,077 new household connections, of which 87,500 are customers. In addition, the programme aims to increase Uganda’s electrification rate to 60 per cent by 2027.