- Tanzania’s Minister for Energy, Dr Doto Biteko, has assured that Tanzania is fully committed to supporting the realization of universal electricity access in Africa by 2030.
- To advance universal electricity access on the continent, he said the country has been partnering with neighbouring countries, including Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Zambia, to facilitate their electricity supply.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy for Tanzania, Dr Doto Biteko, has assured that Tanzania is fully committed to supporting the realisation of universal electricity access in Africa by 2030.
Briefing journalists on the side-line of the 9th Africa Energy Market Place meeting in Dar es Salaam, Dr Biteko said the country will leverage its excess power generation to complement neighbouring countries’ demand.
The government’s assurance echoes its ongoing implementation of various major electricity projects, including the Julius Nyerere Hydro Power Project (JNHPP), which, upon completion, will add 2115 Megawatts to the National Grid, significantly increasing the country’s attainment of energy self-sufficiency.
The 9th Africa Energy Market Place meeting, co-organised by the government through the Ministry of Energy and the African Development Bank (AfDB), intends to boost the country’s effort to provide clean cooking and electricity access nationwide.
Dr Biteko said the meeting is part of the country’s preparation towards hosting the forthcoming Africa Heads of State Energy Compact Summit, which will be held in the country in January 2025 to raise about 190 billion US dollars (about 517.498tri/-) to provide electricity to 300 million people in the continent by 2030.
He said the AfDB has picked Tanzania to host the two-day 9th Africa Energy Market Place and the upcoming Africa Heads of State Energy Compact Summit due to the sixth-phase government’s strategy to extend electricity access to rural and peri-urban areas rapidly.
To advance universal electricity access on the continent, he said the country has been partnering with neighbouring countries, including Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Zambia, to facilitate their electricity supply.
In another development, he said the government’s implementation of the National Clean Cooking Energy Strategy is on track, with 400,000 subsidised gas cylinders set aside for distribution nationwide.
Under the National Clean Cooking Energy Strategy, the country aims to increase the percentage of households using clean cooking energy to 80 per cent by 2034 from approximately 10 per cent.
The clean cooking initiative also seeks to prevent deforestation, thereby cutting carbon emissions and conserving the environment by switching to eco-friendly cooking energy, including gases and electricity.
Dr Biteko requested the AfDB to support financially Tanzania’s efforts to achieve its ambitious energy strategy.
For his part, the AfDB’s Vice-President of Energy, Power, Climate Change and Green Growth, Dr Kevin Kariuki, assured Tanzania of the continental financial body’s support in realising the transition to clean cooking targets.