A new 132-kilometer power line is being built in Tanzania to beef up its power availability. The cornerstone for the line stretching from the Tabora to the Katavi region in Western Tanzania was laid by Tanzanian President. Dr. John Magufuli recently. The line will supply 100 megawatts of electricity to the Katavi region. To be completed within the next 10 months or so, it will connect Katavi to the national grid. Importantly, the project under implementation will help reduce the high cost of electricity production in the Katavi region. Presently, generation costs TZS 6.8 billion per year using oil as the feedstock and the revenue realization is only TZS 1.4 billion. With the completion of the project, all 172 villages and 1,444 suburbs of the region will be provided with electricity.
The Katavi region had officially come into being on 1st March 2012 as a part of the government’s decision to establish four new regions viz. Katavi, Njombe, Simiyu, and Geita. As on 2012, the province has a total population of 564,604. Katavi figures prominently among the regions identified for the development of industrial parks.
