Kenya/Tanzania/Zambia: Interconnector priority

The long-anticipated interconnector project is one of two energy projects to receive priority under the new European Commission (EC)-supported Pan-African Programme (PAP); the other is the Ruzizi III dam. Funding from the World Bank and Agence Française de Développement has been agreed, but the EC calculates there is an estimated €110m ($124m) funding gap. The project is now high up the agenda, especially given Zambia’s problems and the need to integrate Southern African Power Pool outliers. However, a Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa official noted at a recent discussion of the project that there was a problem reconciling the different voltages used in the three countries’ national grids.