Story by Bruce Chahwanda
African Heads of State and Government converged in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania this Tuesday for an Energy Summit where the focus was on enhancing power generation and attracting more investments in the sector.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa was represented by the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Honourable July Moyo, who joined 21 heads of state and government, and international financiers.
The summit running under the theme: “Mission 300,” was meant to motivate countries to ensure the estimated 300 million people on the continent have access to electricity.
Briefing journalists on the side-lines of the Summit, Honourable Moyo said the continent needs to intensify electrification programmes in both rural and urban communities.
“The main message of the summit is that the continent must mobilise for the electrification of rural and urban centres. The use of energy to boost productivity in the case of Zimbabwe where agriculture is key driver of the economy through promoting irrigation. Zimbabwe is also building the biggest steel plant which requires electricity also,” said Hon Moyo.
Countries with excess power will be connected to the Southern African Power Pool for the region to benefit from excess power produced by Tanzania and Angola.
Hon Moyo stated, “Most countries were looking at power balance on how much is installed capacity and how much they can generate. We are mow comparing ourselves for example we have Tanzania and Angola with surplus but they are the only two countries not connected to Southern Africa power pool and we are happy that Tanzania is now connecting with Zambia such that we benefit from excess power.”
The summit sought to support countries in addressing energy sector gaps, infrastructure needs and critical reforms to attract investment and mobilise resources.
The summit witnessed the launch and signing of National Energy Compacts for the first group of 15 countries as part of the broader mission 300 initiative aimed at providing electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030.
