The provision of electricity to rural areas will for sure be catalytic in speeding up development and eliminating poverty in our villages.
Within the next five years, more rural dwellers in Tanzania will be accessing electricity in bigger numbers than their urban counterparts, the minister responsible for energy, Prof Sospter Muhongo, has said. This is great news, probably a first in Africa. The minister notes that through the rural electrification programme being undertaken by the Rural Electrification Agency (Rea), this unique situation will be a reality by 2020.
The provision of electricity to rural areas will for sure be catalytic in speeding up development and eliminating poverty in our villages.
It is with this recognition that the government is committed to ensuring that everything possible is done to electrify all parts of the country by 2030.
As Prof Muhongo notes, with the government’s resolve towards industrialisation for the country to attain a middle-income status, electrification is more important now than ever before.
And the Rea programme has provided a systematic way of lighting up all rural areas in Tanzania.
Electricity once accessed can be used for irrigation, agro-processing, small-scale mining and to facilitate tourism. Power will also be supplied to institutions such as schools, health centres, market places and neighbourhoods. We know that rural electrification faces many challenges such as long distances from existing power stations to the targeted rural areas, low population densities and poverty.
The government should, therefore, pursue other sources of energy that are yet to be fully exploited.
The sources, which could facilitate production of electricity for both urban and rural areas, include coal, natural gas, geothermal, wood and biomass fuels.
Without reliable sources of energy, the country’s rural areas will remain economically unviable for years to come and this will thwart their role as contributors to national development.
We must have ample, reliable and uninterrupted electricity if we are to succeed in transforming Tanzania into an industrialised nation.
SUSTAIN DEBATE ON ‘MITUMBA’
Earlier this year, East African Community heads of state proposed a ban on the importation of secondhand clothes, shoes and bags, popularly known as mitumba. This ban, the leaders agreed, should be implemented in phases over three years.
In the interim, the EAC countries should revive their moribund textile and leather industries, creating jobs and boosting their economies.
With $151 million annual mitumba imports, the EAC has the dubious status of being the world’s leading importer of used wear. The early post-independent years up to the mid-1980s had seen booming textile industries in the region. Tanzania boasted several factories such as Urafiki and Sunguratex in Dar es Salaam; Mwatex in Mwanza and Kiltex in Arusha. These soon collapsed.
The plan to get rid of mitumba is scaring thousands of small scale traders and their customers. What will traders do for a living? What will the poor cover their bodies with—fashionably? Will local fabrics and designs meet international standards? Will our tailors be up to the task when imports of new ready-made clothes and mitumba from abroad are reduced to a trickle?
It will be tough going for everybody, but in the long run, the economies and of course, EAC citizens, will benefit as we evolve into real middle-income economies. Meanwhile, let the debate on this clearly sensitive matter continue.
