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Initiate joint power projects, Nile River Basin states told
2008-02-16 09:18:15
By Lusekelo Philemon.
Governments in the Nile River Basin have been challenged to effect inter-country power connection with a view to cutting down high power tariffs and breaking the vicious cycle of poverty in the region.
The option will further help increase competition among the countries` power utility firms denying poor people access to power, the driving force towards the region`s socio-economic development.
The remarks were made mid this week in Dar es Salaam by Kamu Karekacho, coordinator for the Nile Basin`s Regional Power Trade Project, when presenting a paper on regional power issues at a one-day Tanzania Nile Discourse Forum (TNDF) media consultative workshop.
He said it was prime time for countries in the region to cooperate and collectively develop power projects to reduce the skyrocketing prices and increase competition among power utility firms in the region.
According to experts, the power situation in the region was very appalling and needs shared motives to uplift people`s living standards in the region.
``This will make electricity available all the time and accessible to all people regardless of their income status. This also will help one country that might be in a prolonged state of drought,`` Karekacho said.
Countries in the region have no reliable power because of both poor infrastructures and climatic change related problems like prolonged droughts.
Rural people and the poor have no access to national grids of electricity, the situation that makes the war against abject poverty a daylight dream.
``People in the Sub Saharan Africa use at least 500kwh/per capita year minimum consumption, which is less than the worldwide average, which is about 2000kWh/.This makes people in the region continue living in an awkward life,`` he said.
Africa has diverse natural resources which are yet to be explored, hence it was high time that African governments collaborated and shared electric power, he said.
Citing examples, the regional power expert said the Inga dam in DRC has the capacity of producing more than 40,000 megawatts and that if other countries were connected to it would feed the entire eastern and central African region.
Ethiopia also produces more than 45,000 megawatts, which is the largest amount in the eastern Africa region.
The future perspectives for NBI connections is to connect with power countries like Egypt, DRC, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and Tanzania, he said.
The Regional Power Trade Project meant to facilitate the development of regional power markets by concentrating on the delivery of technical assistance and supporting the development of required power trade infrastructure.
According to experts, the long term goal of power projects is to facilitate the development of regional power markets by concentrating on the delivery of technical assistance and supporting the development of required power trade infrastructure Investors in power projects should go beyond the country level to regional level, Karekacho stressed.
He said if the entire continent would be connected with power, unnecessary conflicts in the region would be reduced.
Regional Power Trade Project follows the Dar es Salaam declaration of May 20, 2003, which highlights the adoption of a long-term vision of the RPT, approval of the PIP including establishment of the Nile Basin Power Forum, agreed to meet periodically to review progress of SVP and SAPs.
The project which is hosted in Dar es Salaam and its studies has facilitated to have an informed discourse and orderly development of the initial stages of sustainable commercial power markets in the Nile Basin
RPT studies also managed to identify the barriers to power trade in the region and provide suggestions as to how these can be overcome and ensuring sustainability of power development initiatives in the context of environmental protection and stakeholder involvement.
Other issues include, developing the regional capacity to ensure informed decision in policy and standards harmonisation necessary for the development of an integrated electricity infrastructure.
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