- Tanzania aims to widen energy access and use of clean energy in the next decade.
- This plan would affect hundreds of prisons, schools and colleges.
Tanzania’s president recently announced a new sweeping climate package aiming to widen access and use of clean energy by between 80 and 90 per cent by 2032.
The new codified state plan includes a 12-months grace period for all institutions providing services to more than 300 people to use clean cooking energy solutions. This would affect hundreds of prisons, schools and colleges, which heavily depend on firewood as their primary energy source.
The president announced plans to set up a strategic task force to review and propose a national strategy for clean energy solutions. The plan, she insisted, will help Tanzania expands coverage of clean energy by between 80 and 90 per cent in the next decade.
She said, “We are here because of charcoal. But unfortunately, it has become a problem leading to deforestation in several regions, most of which are sources of fresh water we consume in Dar es Salaam. So we have been emphasizing tree-planting campaigns. I believe we have to change our attitude by planting fruit trees, and this perhaps can be spared when people rush to cut trees.”
President Samia instructed the State Mining Corporation (STAMICO) to fast-track their charcoal production plan. She said clean charcoal needs to be produced in mass quantities.