THE TIB Development Bank Ltd and the SNV-Netherland Development Organisation signed in Dar es Salaam yesterday, a 1.5 EURO million fund pact committing the former to managing a resultbased fund that seeks to motivate solar energy agents to take electricity to rural lake and central zones.
The pact was signed by TIB Acting Managing Director Mr Patrick Mongella and the Deputy Country Director, Ms Lucy Fulgence Silas. Ms Silas said the core aim of the project, the second in a series, was to help rural people access electricity in the two zones.
She also praised cooperation between SNV and TIB. “We are focusing on the Lake Zone because various research results show that there is a critical shortage of electricity there.
From there we shall switch to the Central Zone,” she said, adding that SNV had 800 agents and that the project was working with 11 power distributing companies.
Mr Mongella said the bank was ready to cooperate with Dutch partners in enhancing Tanzania’s development goals.
This project, he said, aims to facilitate introduction of and sustained use of solar power solutions, particularly pico-solar and small solar home systems in targeted rural remote areas within the lake and central zones.
“TIB Development Bank undertakes this role towards fulfilment of its mandate as a national development financing institution (DFI) which requires the bank to facilitate economic growth of our nation.
Ensuring access to clean and sustainable sources of energy is one of the efforts towards accomplishing this,” he said in a statement after signing the pact.
He appealed to public and development partners in need of fund management services to use services offered by TIB.
SNV Project Manager John Kundael Mlay said the money will go to firms that are truly committed to taking electricity to remote rural applicants.
SNV Tanzania is involved in three renewable energy sub-sectors that include domestic biogas, improved cook stoves and solar energy.
SNV has been in Tanzania since 1963.
