IN this part of the world, when governments talk of infrastructural development, electricity is considered among the most important commodities. Others are roads and telecommunication networks.
Electricity, being the most powerful energy source is vital in every aspects of national economy as well as in human life. Electricity enables an effective use of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), other than any other energy source.
Important ICT components such as the computers, televisions, internet, faxes, cellular phones and many others, have proved ineffective in use to the majority of the people in both urban and in rural communities because of lack of reliable electricity supply.
Instead, most rural people are dependent on the availability of the solar panels and batteries whose voltaic power is not enough to provide economically viable technological solutions to raise a number of ICTs issues for their development.
Therefore in order to cater for the use of these superhighways, rural electrification initiative is an important milestone, and in this case the supply of electricity has to be prioritized.
Currently the main users of solar energy are water pumping machines, telecommunication plants, radio call communication components, and domestic vaccine refrigeration.
The rapid progress of the technologies in the world will open completely new opportunities to attain higher levels of development if there is abundant supply of electricity in both urban and in rural communities so as to hasten the development of the country’s social and economic sectors.
Tanzania is in the challenging position of being part of the global economy with its imperatives of innovation, speed and profit and therefore in view of this, it must embrace and harness the ICT use to succeed in pushing the wave of digital economy.
Based on this understanding, and coupled with the gradual ICT’s growth, most villages in the country do not have access to the ICT tools in order to participate in the global market, an aspect that still keeps them backward in terms of development.
Study shows that although 800 million people in developing countries have been connected to power grids in the last two decades, two billion people, mostly in rural communities still do not have access to electricity and modern energy services.
The African countries that find themselves in these have many difficulties to contend with, and among the most vital is to cover energy requirements. Energy is fundamental to fulfilling basic social needs for economic and social development and, not least, combating desertification.
Connecting low population densities in remote rural communities to a national grid can be costly, and often people opt to use renewable energy sources which are given impractical alternatives such as biomass, wind power, mini and micro-hydroelectric projects and energy conservation, solar power, and small diesel or petrol generators.
All these plans call for massive capital investments both in local and foreign, an aspect that most African governments cannot come up with for the necessary funding of their own. Despite the specificities of each African country, rural Africa has many things in common that influence the way the issue of energy development should be approached.
In early 2006, the European Commission(EU) proposed a Euro 250 million (US$ 320 million) grant to help African and Caribbean countries increase investments in energy projects, and the facility was expected to be available by early next year.
Mr. Laurent Ditrick, an energy officer at the Directorate of Development at the EU headquarters in Brussels-Belgium noted that, the facility is expected to be an additional boost to investors which will catalyze investment in rural electrification initiatives already being promoted in several African countries.
According to him, the grant is expected to attract additional funding, which is currently a key challenge in Africa.
Uganda has particularly established a rural electrification project and major donors like the World Bank have already committed support towards the initiatives, according to him, EU is doing a lot of work much further and considerably boost the provision of energy services to the poor.
The most prioritizing areas for funding, however, he noted that will include delivery of energy services, creating an enabling environment and facilitating future large scale investment to reach a substantial number of rural people and to improve access to modern energy services.
According to EU’s estimates, Africa’s continent is endowed with a wide range of energy resources including solar, hydro and bio-gas. But Africa today utilizes only 7 percent of its total hydroelectric energy potential. In most countries on the continent, less than 5 percent of the population has access to electricity.
The availability of electricity is not only essential for ICT development, the commodity can facilitate the establishment of small businesses or improve the services rendered by businesses accommodated in the house.
Rural electrification enables processing of agro-productions and the development of small-scale industries to expand. Such an establishment reduces migration of youths to urban centers as well as protecting the environment.
What is more with electricity in place is that employment opportunities for the youths and other people can be created and there would be many openings of getting jobs and this reduces significantly the problem of unemployment which now bedevils most towns and cities in developing countries.
Currently in Tanzania, only a small percentage of the people enjoy the benefits of electricity. This has raised several questions including whether poverty is the cause. But the country has a long way to go to effectively establishing the ICT network in rural communities to achieve the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Stakeholders have to adhere with the National energy policy calls for adequate energy supplies to enable the IT and other sectors such as the Agriculture, Manufacturing, Mining, Commerce and Small industries to grow, says Dr. Cuthbert Kimambo of the University of Dar es Salaam.
The electricity sub sector is largely dominated by a state owned enterprise, Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) which has a vertically integrated monopoly in the generation and supply of electricity in the country.
Power generation is largely hydro-based with three main stations: Mtera, Kidatu, and Kihansi linked together through the national grid. The private sector is invited to participate in developing power generating projects. The only private investors to take the opportunity so far are Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) and Songas Limited.
The giant power supply company in the country, TANESCO, through its rural electrification department has indeed reinforced its responsibilities of ensuring work on rural electrification projects since the program was announced in the country in 1970’s.
The main task of the department is therefore to guide the company to achieve its goals out of its rural electrification project programs with initial focus on district headquarters in the country.
In general, the majority of TANESCO customers in the country are in urban areas especially in the city of Dar es Salaam which alone consumes about 50 percent of power generated in the country, while small portions are in rural areas.
According to company’s Rural Electrification Manager, Eng. Makala .E. Kingu, only about 11 percent of Tanzanians have access to electricity while only about 1 percent of the rural population have access to electricity.
He says that, all regional headquarters in the country are already electrified, and 89 out of 105 district headquarters are already electrified. This is about 84.8 percent of the work done since the country attained its independence in 1961. Currently 16 districts are not yet electrified, but plans are underway to ensure that they get electricity.
According to him, the major challenge facing the department and indeed the whole company is top ensure that 89 percent of the remaining population have access to electricity, this requires huge investment, hence the need for investors both international and local to participate in expanding the country’s power sector.
In outlining the problems of the rural electrification in Tanzania, Mr. Kingu noted that most of the projected areas are not accessible due to poor road infrastructure, and already completed projects are not viable hence they don’t attract investors for any possible economic sector that would need investment.
Officials from the Ministry of Energy in the Country have assured rural dwellers of the provision of affordable energy in the country if the Rural Energy Act (REA) to be tabled in this year’s budget at the National Assembly will be passed.
The rural electrification bill explains government’s intention to provide electricity in the villages. The move according to him, will act as an engine of development to reduce poverty among the people.
According to the Minister, the provision for the establishment of a REA and Rural Energy Fund (REF) will promote access to modern energy services in rural areas of the mainland Tanzania.
However, he said that this is a good idea as it would encourage rural electrification, but the greatest hindrance to the implementation would emerge as a result of poverty that is among the people.
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