Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Electricity distributor, Umeme’s contract will run its full course but will not be renewed by government in 2025. Fears that the Umeme concession would be terminated before 2025 have therefore been put to rest. Government is going ahead with plans to form its own company to …
Read More »Parliament calls for countrywide power coverage
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Legislators have called on government to ensure that electricity access across the country is improved for the benefit of Ugandans in different sectors of the economy. This follows a report tabled by the House Committee on Environment and Natural relating to the erratic electricity supply …
Read More »Energy Minister Nankabirwa given 7 days to explain nationwide power outages
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Members of Parliament have demanded from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development a comprehensive statement on persistent power outages currently being experienced nationwide. Rising on a matter of national importance during plenary sitting on Thursday, legislators demanded to know how technically possible it …
Read More »Parliament approve US$331 million loan for electricity access
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Parliament has approved a request for government to borrow up to US$331.5 million, from the International Development Association of the World Bank Group, upon which it will obtain a grant worth US$ 276.5 million. The loan is for financing the Electricity Access Scale Up Project (EASP), …
Read More »Electricity to be traded like airtime starting next year
A deregulated electricity market allows for the entrance of competitors to buy and sell electricity by permitting market participants to invest in power plants and transmission lines Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Electricity consumers will have the right to choose their electricity provider, regardless of who controls the physical …
Read More »S. African trade surplus declines in August as load-shedding persists
Johannesburg, South Africa | Xinhua | South Africa’s trade surplus decreased from 1.45 billion U.S. dollars in July 2022 to 424 million dollars in August 2022 due to load shedding and other constraining issues, said the First National Bank (FNB) on Tuesday. The FNB, one of South Africa’s “big four” …
Read More »62 arrested for vandalism of electricity infrastructure
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Police Crime Intelligence and the army have arrested 62 suspected vandals of electricity infrastructure. The suspects who were found in possession of conductors, transformers, wood and metallic poles were arrested in areas of Kampala, Wakiso, Luweero, Masaka, Mpigi, and Mityana districts. Out of the 62 …
Read More »Kenya to rely on imports to lower cost of electricity
Nairobi, Kenya | Xinhua | Kenya plans to rely on imports to lower the cost of electricity for household and industrial consumers, a government official said Wednesday. Daniel Kiptoo, director general of the Energy, and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, told journalists in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, that neighboring East African …
Read More »Lighting up the Great Lakes
River Nile countries push for an interconnected power grid SPECIAL FEATURE | ESPOIR IRADUKUNDA & RONALD MUSOKE | It is 9am in downtown Bujumbura— Burundi’s commercial city, and the alleys are already crowded with buyers and sellers haggling noisily over prices of merchandise. They must shout to be heard because …
Read More »Parliament summons energy minister over move to purchase electricity from Kenya
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa has queried a decision by the government to import electricity from Kenya (60 Megawatts) after the shutdown of Isimba hydropower plant. Tayebwa made the statement during the Wednesday plenary sitting in which he queried the rushed decision despite …
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