A USD2.25 million grant to help prepare a Tanzania-Malawi power transmission project that will sustainably boost electricity access in East and Southern Africa was approved by the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) Governing Committee during its meeting in Beijing on 23 June. The project will be implemented by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The MCDF grant will fund technical feasibility studies, an environmental and social impact assessment, and resettlement action plans that are prerequisites for IFI financing, helping to make the Tanzania-Malawi 400kV power transmission project a reality, based on International Financial Institution (IFI) environmental and social standards.
This will facilitate IFI financing for the project, which will deliver a 400 kilovolt (kV) transmission line that will include a 82.3km long Mbeya-Kyela segment in Tanzania and an estimated 55-kilometer segment stretching from Karonga in Malawi to Kasumulu in Tanzania.
The project’s 400kV transmission backbone (Western Backbone) will link underserved northern and central regions of Malawi. It will further interconnect the country’s power system with the Southern African Power Pool via Mozambique and Zambia, and the East African Power Pool through Tanzania.
This connectivity breakthrough will improve power system management, strengthen the reliability of power supplies, enable lower-cost power generation, and promote energy trade and sustainable development across these African subregions.
Contact
David Hendrickson
Senior Communications Officer
Mobile: +86 185 0114 6758
david.hendrickson@themcdf.org
