Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is among nine African nations set to benefit from the European Union’s new rural electrification programme using hydro, wind, solar and biomass, with Euro 95 million set aside for the projects.
The projects will address energy challenges in rural areas and are part of the EU’s last Energy Facility Call for Proposals, which focused specifically on improving access to modern, affordable and sustainable energy services for rural poor, by promoting renewable energy solutions as well as on energy efficiency measures building on proven successful actions.
The ‘Call for Proposals’ is an EU funding system which enables NGOs, government and private sector organisations to receive a grant for EU funding, based on their proposal for an innovative project.
The EU recently announced that the countries which will benefit from this initiative are Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Eritrea, and Rwanda.
European Commission Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, announced the project last week in New York at the New Business Models for Bringing Sustainable Energy to the Energy Poor event as part of the UN Annual Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Forum.
“These innovative projects are a real step forward in terms of bringing energy to some of the most remote and poor areas in Africa. The benefits of rural electrification are manifold - by connecting people to clean energy, we’ll improve healthcare, education, and opportunities to make a living in the area,” he said.
According to the EU, the project is only part of the overall EU effort in tackling energy poverty and creating an enabling environment for growth.
The EU aims to allocate more than 3 billion euro worth of grants in the 2014-2020 financial period to support sustainable energy projects in about 30 countries that see energy as a focal sector for development.
This will leverage between 15 and 30 billion euro in loans and equity investment, thus enabling to plug the gaps in energy infrastructure projects and power businesses, schools, homes and hospitals.
In Tanzania, the projects chosen include a hydroelectric project in the Ludewa District, which will provide energy to 20 isolated villages; benefitting 4,000 households, 43 primary and secondary schools (about 16,000 students); one hospital and 19 dispensaries, over 500 small businesses and farmers from across the region and an eco-electrification project in Burkina Faso, which will reach 100,000 people, as well as health centres and schools.
The projects were announced at an event aimed at showcasing the EU’s common efforts in the fight against energy poverty, to provide the ground for the exchange of best practices and lessons learnt, and to share views on new business models that could make for enhanced cooperation between donors, the private sector, civil society and governments.
THE CITIZEN
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