More rural areas to access power than urban ones by 2020

ENERGY and Minerals Minister, Professor Sospeter Muhongo, has said Tanzania is going to book a place in modern African history within five years of the Fifth Phase Government, as more rural dwellers will be able to access electricity than their urban counterparts. 

 He said through the rural electrification programme being carried out by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), there will be more power users in the rural areas by 2020 than in urban areas.

 Prof Muhongo made the statement here yesterday when he was addressing workers from different departments under his ministry at the beginning of his eight-day tour of Tanga Region to visit REA projects.

 He noted that in many countries, people who lived in towns enjoyed electricity services rather than those living in rural areas. “But in Tanzania within these five years, the story would be different,’’ he added. The minister further observed that with the government’s resolve towards industrialisation for the country to reach a middle-income status, the electrification programme was now more important than ever before. 

Prof Muhongo told his audience that as industrialisation is also geared at poverty alleviation, it would be ideal if the electrification programme would target rural areas, where the majority of people live.

 “When we are planning industrialisation, we also want our villages to use electricity in productive activities like agriculture, small-scale processing industries and business. By so doing, they will be able o produce more, get more profit and hence march out of poverty,’’ he said. 

He added that apart from REA, the central government was striving to establish new other electricity plants and improve existing ones to boost supply and reduce costs. 

 “We want to see the electricity tariff going down …we can’t have an electricity company, which always seeks to up tariff; why don’t they think of reducing the tariff ... through these efforts by the government, the tariff will keep on going down,’’ he enthused. 

Tanga Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr Martin Shigela, asked rural dwellers to use the opportunity brought by electrification to engage in productive activities and uplift their living standard.