A US$120 million loan has been awarded for the construction of a 50 MW hydropower plant in western Tanzania.

The AfDB will provide the bulk of the funding for the US$144.14 million Malagarasi Hydropower project on the Malagarasi river in the Kigoma region. The run-of-river plant will feature a 54 km, 132 kV transmission line that will connect to the national grid.

An additional US$20 million will be sourced from the Africa Growing Together Fund, which is co-financed by the AfDB and the Chinese government. The government of Tanzania will provide the remaining US$4.14 million.

The Malagarasi facility is expected to create about 700 jobs during the construction phase. It will reduce electricity generation costs in the region from the current US$0.33/kWh to US$0.04/kWh. With average annual output projected at 181 GWh, the project is expected to benefit about 130 000 Kigoma households.

8 December 2020
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