The World Bank has approved a US$200m loan for the Tanzania Rural Electrification Expansion Program that will connect 2.5 million poor households in rural areas to the national electricity grid by 2022.
The Government of Tanzania is currently implementing a national energy policy, the National Rural Electrification Program (2013–2022), whose goal is to increase the country’s overall electricity connectivity from 36% in 2014 to 50% by 2025 and to at least 75% by 2033. The World Bank will also provide with capital to install 33 MW of small solar PV projects.
The National Rural Electrification Program led by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals and the Rural Electrification Agency includes both on-grid and off-grid solutions and has four priorities; (i) the connection of new customers to the grid in already electrified settlements; (ii) new connections to the grid; (iii) electrification through off-grid investments; and (iv) the development of distributed technologies, in particular off-grid solar and other renewable technologies.