Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE government is determined to connect 8 million new customers to electricity by 2030 under its current plan to extend power supply to 9,000 hamlets across the country.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Dr Doto Biteko, revealed this in Dodoma yesterday while handing over subsidised electric stoves to the Rural Energy Agency (REA) staff, an initiative aimed at promoting the clean cooking energy drive.
Dr Biteko noted that currently fewer than 5 million people are connected to electricity, but the 9,000-hamlet power project being implemented by REA will significantly increase the number of households connected to the national grid.
The Deputy Prime Minister further advised that the clean cooking agenda should be mainstreamed into the project to ensure that newly connected customers are also provided with subsidized electric stoves.
“This means we have a heavy task of connecting more households, but we must align this effort with our national clean cooking energy campaign,” Dr Biteko stressed.
He urged REA staff to be good ambassadors of the agenda as Tanzania envisions 80 percent of its population migrating to clean cooking energy by 2034.
The DPM also hailed the Board, Management, and staff of REA for diligently discharging their duties, noting that the agency has already achieved its target of connecting over 12,000 villages to the national grid.
He added that since the Ministry of Energy’s affiliated institutions began undergoing self-appraisals, REA has ranked first twice and finished as runner-up in three consecutive quarters.
For his part, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Engineer Felchesmi Mramba, said that since Tanzania embarked on the clean cooking agenda, the use of clean cooking energy has increased from 6.9 percent to the current 20.3 percent.
Regarding the positive growth trend, the Permanent Secretary expressed optimism that Tanzania may even achieve the 80 percent target before 2034.
Meanwhile, REA’s chairman of the board of directors, Ambassador (Rtd) Major General Jacob Kingu commended the Ministry’s initiative to empower staff of its affiliated institutions by providing electric stoves, calling on other ministries to follow suit so the country can achieve the 80 percent clean cooking target.
Speaking earlier, REA Director General Engineer Hassan Said noted that the agency has partnered with various public institutions to ensure they transition to clean cooking energy.
He revealed that REA has enabled all 22 National Service (JKT) camps to migrate to clean cooking energy under a 5.75bn/- project.
He further said the agency has also collaborated with the Tanzania Prisons Service, implementing a 35.2bn/- project that has enabled over 200 facilities to join the clean cooking drive, which is being championed by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
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