Kikwete complains over Zesco outages

Kikwete complains over Zesco outages
Written by Mutuna Chanda and Zumani Katasefa in Ndola
Tuesday, July 07, 2009 3:00:49 PM

TANZANIAN President Jakaya Kikwete has complained that Zesco Limited’s unstable power supply to his country’s south-west towns was making him unpopular. And President Kikwete has said trade between his country and Zambia is shamefully low.

President Kikwete who officiated at this year’s Zambia International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Ndola on Saturday, which is being held under the theme ‘Investment in Infrastructure for Competitiveness’, said during a tour of the stands that he could not brag about the funds he secured from the Norwegians for electricity supply to the south west part of Tanzania while he served as energy minister because power supply to the area was unstable.

He told Zesco customer services director Teddy Mwale to resolve the problems that made power supply to the area unstable.

This was when Mwale guided President Kikwete through the Zesco stand and pointed to the power company’s network on a map.

“The power in this area is not stable,” President Kikwete said as he pointed at the towns of Sumbawange and Mbozi where Zesco exports power. “There are so many complaints that every time I visit the place I am not scoring points.”

President Kikwete said Tanzania even considered supplying thermal power to the area to solve the electricity problems.

“I am still resisting thermal power but when power is unstable you can’t resist much,” President Kikwete told commerce minister Felix Mutati and tourism minister Catherine Namugala as they walked away from the Zesco stand. “You need to resolve that.”

Mutati and Namugala pledged that Zambia would solve the problem.

Later in an interview, Mwale said Zesco supplied power to Sumbawange and Mbozi at a low voltage of 66 Kilovolts (kV).

Mwale said the areas experienced low power especially during peak periods.

He said the long-term solution to the power problems in the area would be to uprate the electricity supply to 132 kV.

Mwale also said the other long-term solution would come with the implementation of the 330 kV power interconnector to east Africa because the substation at Kasama which was responsible for electricity supply to the Tanzanian towns would be of bigger capacity.

And President Kikwete said Tanzania and Zambia could do more to increase the official statistics of trade between the two countries.

“The trade between our two countries is a mere US $20 million and is declining,” President Kikwete said. “I know someone may say that there is trade that is not captured, these are official figures but there is much more going on. We need to make the official statistics better.”

He said the two countries’ ministries of trade needed to be more proactive and interact more.

President Kikwete also said it was undisputable that most African states had inadequate infrastructure.

“Poor infrastructure makes the cost of transporting goods in Africa among the highest if not the highest,” he said.

He said the cost of transporting a 40-foot container was US $2,000 more in Africa than other regions.

President Kikwete said improved road infrastructure could contribute two per cent to Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.

He said African countries needed to correct the mistakes made by their long departed colonial masters who built infrastructure to facilitate the exit of raw materials.

President Kikwete said the infrastructure built by the colonial masters was meant for exploitation and that to improve on it needed enormous amounts of investment of between US $18 million and US $25 million per year.

He said much as raising such amounts of money was a tall order, African countries needed to be innovative in sourcing the resources.

“Governments have to give infrastructure development the priority it deserves in their national budgets,” President Kikwete said. “ODA (Overseas Development Assistance) will continue to be an important source of financing for infrastructure development.”

He cited the recent North-South Corridor meeting which Zambia hosted in Lusaka at which donors pledged funds amounting to US $1.2 billion for the rehabilitation of infrastructure.

President Kikwete said the rehabilitation of infrastructure in the North-South Corridor would reduce the travel time between Dar-es-Salaam and Lusaka by 25 per cent.

He said the problem of infrastructure in Africa could not be solved by one or two sources of income.

President Kikwete said there was room for private sector participation in infrastructure development.

He however expressed fear that the private sector would only invest in infrastructure projects that had quicker and higher returns.

President Kikwete invited Zambians to participate in the Dar-es Salaam International Trade Fair and pledged that there would be increased participation of Tanzanians in coming Zambia International Trade Fairs.

And President Rupiah Banda said African countries were responsible for their own destiny.

During a luncheon hosted in honour of President Kikwete on Sunday, President Banda said African countries should secure their future by creating opportunities that would promote job creation and wealth.

“In this regard, Zambia and Tanzania should therefore strive even more to remove all impediments to development cooperation and trade opportunities for our two peoples,” President Banda said.

President Banda said the Zambian government was confident that following the tripartite COMESA-EAC-SADC conference which was held from April 6 to April 7, 2009 in Lusaka, at which US $1.2billion was pledged by cooperating partners, railway, road and energy infrastructure would be developed in the North-South corridor, saying that this would improve regional infrastructure and facilitate trade in the region.

“Achievements have been scored in the past, notably among them, the construction of the great Uhuru or Tazara railway line and the Tazama oil pipeline. We are proud of these infrastructure projects as they are a manifestation of what can be achieved between two countries through cooperation,” he said.

President Banda said sustained economic growth and development could not be attained without a vibrant private sector.

He said his government would continue to improve the business environment so as to enable the private sector to thrive and reach its full potential.

“It is in light of the foregoing that I am pleased to inform this August gathering that plans are already underway to establish a one-stop-border post at Nakonde on the Zambian side and at Tunduma on the Tanzania side. It is in this regard that I appeal to the business sector in both our two countries to take advantage of conducive environment to create joint ventures in both countries which will enhance the social and economic well-being of our two peoples,” said President Banda.

Meanwhile, ZITF board chairman Phesto Musonda said the cost of moving exports to ports was prohibitive, making products for landlocked countries such as Zambia less competitive.

“With regard to our roads, the road density in Zambia and the region at large is still very low and the main export routes suffer from overloaded trucks and heavy traffic which damage our road infrastructure,” Musonda said. “The answer to this problem in my humble view lies in investing in the rail networks in order to decongest the roads and avoid transportation of bulk goods on roads thereby prolonging the lifespan of our roads.”

He appealed to the Tanzanian and Zambian governments to urgently come up with measures that would resuscitate the operations of Tanzania Zambia Rail Line (TAZARA).

“So that it can take off the pressure being exerted by trucks on the Great North Road especially that this route leads to sea ports and is vital not only to Zambia but the entire SADC and Comesa regions,” said Musonda. “The investment in rail systems construction and rehabilitation will lead to reduction in transport costs hence making our region more competitive.”

This year’s ZITF has attracted 500 local companies and 120 foreign exhibitors from 14 countries.

This compares with over 300 local companies and 130 foreign exhibitors from 12 countries that took part last year.

The overall best exhibit award was scooped by Ndola City Council while the chairman’s special award went to Zambia Revenue Authority.

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) won the international award, while Kenya got the second prize, with South Africa coming third.