NDF Regional Manager Magnus Magnusson exchanges documents with Treasury Deputy Permanent Secretary Ramadhani Khijjah after signing an agreement under which NDF will issue Tanzania with an 11.7bn/- loan for improving the electricity infrastructure in three regions.
The Nordic Development Fund (NDF) and Tanzania yesterday signed an agreement under which NDF will issue an eight-million-euro (11.7bn/-) loan for improving electricity infrastructure in three regions.
Ramadhani Khijjah, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, and NDF regional managers Magnus Magnusson and Martina Jagerhorn signed the agreement in a brief ceremony in Dar es Salaam.
Khijjah said the loan would be used in the expansion and rehabilitation of electricity distribution networks in Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions.
The work would entail the rehabilitation and expansion of the Njiro substation in Arusha and construction of a new substation at Kilimanjaro International Airport in Hai District, Kilimanjaro Region.
The construction of a new transmission line from Njiro to Kiyungi via Kia would also be undertaken under the project.
’The overall objective of the project is to increase access to electricity by the poor by developing financially sustainable rural energy schemes,’ Khijjah said.
Power consumers had been subjected to reliability problems due to dilapidated and overloaded systems which led to frequent outages and fluctuating voltages conditions, he noted, adding:’The grid expansion programme cannot be addressed without first repairing and reinforcing the distribution/transmission system to remove existing system bottlenecks.’
Khijjah added that Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) would coordinate the project under close supervision of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals and thanked NDF for the loan.
’The government of Tanzania greatly values the assistance provided by the Nordic Development Fund for the implementation of its economic growth and poverty reduction strategy agenda, especially at this time when the country is undergoing load shedding,’ he said.
