East African Community experts have been urged to fast-track policies and measures to exploit alternative sources of energy in the region to lower the cost of doing business.

The call was made here by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, David Jairo during a one-day workshop on the feasibility study for the construction of a gas pipeline from Dar es Salaam through Tanga to Mombasa, organised by the East African Community Secretariat in collaboration with his ministry and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC).

One such area was for the EAC Secretariat to fast track policy harmonisation under the energy sector and establish the necessary structures to promote regional trade in energy services. It was expected that the regional infrastructure projects would establish linkages in the sector across the region.

“As we discuss the natural gas pipeline project we should also look into the exportation of electricity arising from the exploitation of huge energy sources available in Tanzania”, the PS asserted. “The discoveries in Tanzania should be a source of pride and strength to inspire the whole region into thinking deep on how it (region) would benefit from it,” he stressed.

The country’s natural gas reserves have risen to 7.5 trillion cubic feet, enough to supply the entire east and central Africa’s region, Jairo revealed. He noted that the availability of adequate, reliable and affordable energy was one of the prerequisites for socio-economic development in the region as it facilitates activities in all sectors of the economy.

The inadequate, unreliable and expensive energy in the region had been a major constraint to economic growth through increased costs of doing business.

“As a result, the competitiveness of our firms is lower compared with those from other regions, say, Asia and the Far East,” said Jairo who was represented by the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of East African Cooperation, Musa Uleddi. So far, the EAC had adopted an EAC Power Master Pan to tackle the energy constraints to business operations and households in a more holistic manner.

One of the strategies was the diversification of energy sources and supply. Director for Productive Services at the EAC Secretariat, Dr. Nyamajeje C. Weggoro, commended the high presence of stakeholders and experts from the energy sector from all the EAC Partner States, economists, statisticians and financial experts, engineers, environmentalists and business persons, among others at the workshop saying: “This is a clear demonstration of the importance and interest associated with the project by all the Partner States.” Dr. Weggoro said that the objective of the study was to examine the overall feasibility of the project.

The study is to prepare the project up to a bankable level where it could attract financing from private sector, public sector or private-public partnership. The major aspects of the study include; technical feasibility and conceptual design; route determination; economic and financial evaluation; environmental and social impact assessment and mitigation measures. For his part, Chairperson of the Steering Committee on the feasibility study, Barampanze Pierre who is also the Director of Energy in the Ministry of Energy and Mines of the Republic of Burundi, said the workshop was an important milestone in the study as it brought together key stakeholders whose inputs were instrumental in shaping the next phases of the study.

The feasibility study for the gas pipeline commenced in July last year and is being carried out by a Danish consulting firm; COWI A/S in association with COWI Tanzania and Runji and Partners Consulting Engineers Ltd of Kenya. The African Development Bank is supporting the EAC by financing the study through a grant of US$561,700 under the New Partnership for African Development Infrastructure Project Preparatory Facility (NEPAD-IPPF). The study is being implemented through four phases.

The Inception Phase involves collection of data and information as well as formulation of the programme and methodology for carrying out the study.

The second phase includes market analysis, determination of factors for economic and financial evaluation, route selection and environmental issues at the scoping level. The Dar es Salaam workshop discussed the market analysis, economic and financial evaluation factors, route selection and environmental issues and it provided valuable feedback to the consultants on phase two and they are now to proceed with phase three of the study which will involve detailed analysis of the issues identified in phase two. In phase four, the Consultant will package the findings of the study into reports

The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community provides for the joint exploration and development of the resources found in the region for the economic development of the Community in order to improve the quality of life for the people of East Africa. It is in this context that various initiatives are being undertaken under the auspices of the EAC to implement projects and programmes aimed at increasing access to high quality, reliable and cost effective energy services throughout the region. One such initiative is the EAC Power Master Plan meant to tackle the energy constraint to business operations and households in a more holistic manner. One of the strategies being employed in the Plan is the diversification of energy sources and supply.

In terms of diversification, Partner States are looking into the optional use of renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Likewise, the inter-connectivity of the national Grids of EAC Partner States and the Southern Africa Power Pool is being implemented.

Source : The Guardian