Eastern Africa gains US$1.6 billion for a 10-year regional energy programme to expand cross-border power trade and accelerate clean energy access across Uganda, Tanzania and Somalia.
The World Bank financing targets infrastructure and institutional capacity building, with support for the Uganda-Tanzania Interconnector that will allow Uganda to export surplus hydropower to regional markets.
The first phase includes the Uganda-Tanzania Interconnector Project, supported by US$250 million in concessional finance for Uganda. The project will fund approximately 260 kilometres of 400-kilovolt transmission line, creating a transfer capacity of 1,000 megawatts.
Uganda currently generates more electricity than it consumes domestically, with surplus hydropower going underutilised. The interconnector will allow Uganda to export its surplus clean energy to regional electricity markets, while Tanzania and other neighbouring countries gain access to more affordable and reliable power.
The programme will facilitate integration of countries outside the regional grid, including Somalia, and support the Eastern Africa Power Pool for achieving more than 5,000 gigawatt-hours of cross-border trade annually by 2031.
The shift from thermal generation to Uganda's hydropower is projected to avoid 25.8 million metric tons of CO2 emissions across the wider Eastern Africa Power Pool, with at least 452 gigawatt-hours expected to be traded annually between Uganda and Tanzania by 2031.
Ndiamé Diop, World Bank's Regional Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, said a well-integrated regional energy market is one of the most powerful catalysts for economic growth and job creation in the region.
The programme forms part of the Mission 300 initiative, a World Bank and African Development Bank effort aimed at connecting 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030.
Sources: worldbank.org
