Donors pledge to build z'bar power project

The UK, Sweden and Norway will build a 25-megawatt emergency backup power facility in Zanzibar to ease electricity shortages.
The British High Commissioner to Tanzania, Ms Diane Corner, told an annual party of the Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors recently that power woes were affecting businesses and the overall economy.
However, she did not say when the project would be implemented and how much it would cost. “I know from talking to you [Zati members] and talking to the large number of British investors in Tanzania that it can be hard to run a business here, in a developing country with all the challenges of infrastructure, of levels of health and education, and the overall level of development,” she said. However, Zanzibar said last week that it would tackle the power blackout by the end of this month after failing to do so by February 20 had it had initially promised. The power crisis has reduced government revenue collections, and increased household, corporate and government spending. Tourism is one of the most affected industries and Zati members have been forced to buy generators to ensure power supplies. Zati members fear that they will be forced to shed labour if the power problem persists. Power woes have worsened the performance of the industry, which also suffered from the global economic crisis. “Over the last year Tanzania has not done too badly in weathering the global economic storm. While tourist numbers are down slightly, they are still healthy,” Ms Corner said.
According to the Zanzibar Tourism Commission, out of 54,000 British tourists who visited Tanzania last year 32,377 went to Zanzibar.

SOURCE: Citizen newspaper