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The Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA) is seeking bids from companies to upgrade and maintain six new micro hydro plants as independent power producers. The successful bidder will upgrade, finance, operate and maintain the plants under a 25-year concession contract. The developer will connect the plants to the grid, under a power purchase agreement with EWSA, and will earn power sales revenues. In return, the developer will pay EWSA an annual concession fee per site. The six power stations are the 2.5MW Mukungwa II plant at Musanze, operational since May 2013, the 400kW Nshili 1 plant at Nyaruguru, operational since January 2012, the 200kW Nyabahanga plant at Karongi, operational since August 2012, the 200kW Gashashi plant at Rutsiro, operational since March 2013, the 200kW Janja plant at Gakenke, operational since October 2012, and the 500kW Nyirabuhombohombo plant at Nyamasheke, operational since January 2013. Bids are due by 3 January.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) board is expected to approve financial support for the 80MW Rusumo Falls hydroelectric project on 27 November. The project is one of several complex cross-border projects in the region that are receiving strong multilateral backing after a long period of gestation. The dam and the power station will be located at the confluence of the Nyabarongo River, which comes from Rwanda, and the Ruvubu River, which comes from Burundi. Downstream of the Rusumo Falls, the two form the Kagera River, which marks the border between Rwanda and Tanzania.

Ministers from Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 20 September, paving the way for implementation of the 80MW Rusumo Falls hydroelectric project on the Kagera River. Tanzania energy and minerals minister Sospeter Muhongo, Rwandan infrastructure minister Silas Lwakabamba and Burundi’s energy and mines minister, Côme Manirakiza, signed the agreement in the Tanzanian town of Bukoba, on Lake Victoria. The dam and the power station will be located at the confluence of the Nyabarongo River, which comes from Rwanda, and the Ruvubu River, which comes from Burundi. Downstream of the Rusumo Falls, the two form the Kagera River, which marks the border between Rwanda and Tanzania.

The Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA) is seeking expressions of interest from consultants to assist with the procurement process of the Electricity Access Rollout Project (EARP). The successful bidder will provide training for EWSA staff, review, update and finalise bid documents, and assist with bid evaluation and contract negotiations. EARP involves the rehabilitation and upgrading of the 110/30kV Gifurwe substation to 10MVA, construction of the new 110/30kV 20MVA Rulindo substation, and construction of 464km of medium-voltage distribution lines and 710km of low-voltage lines.

The Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA) is seeking pre-qualification bids from private power producers to build a 50MW methane-fuelled power plant. The developer will build, finance, own, operate and transfer the plant as an independent power producer (IPP). EWSA is proposing a 25-year concession contract underpinned by a power purchase agreement.

Rwanda’s post-war economic transformation has been held up as a model for development in Africa, despite controversy over President Paul Kagame’s support for rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo, which saw several donors suspend aid in 2012. Economic growth averages 7%/yr and there has been significant progress in key areas such as healthcare and education. A debut bond issue in April raised $400m and was nearly eight times oversubscribed. Foreign Policy magazine’s 2013 Baseline Profitability Index rated Rwanda as the fifth best investment destination in the world.

A forthcoming paper by Durham University researchers Andrew Crossland, Oghenetejiri Anuta, Neal Wade and Bronwyn McNeil, in partnership with a solar photovoltaic (PV) installer in Rwanda, has found that inappropriate use of off-grid solar PV systems installed at health facilities and schools by NGOs is pushing up costs and shortening lifespans. “The cycle life of the batteries people are experiencing is two years, but we think you could increase that to five or six years at a minimum simply by changing the way you operate and by changing the way you design the systems,” Crossland told African Energy.

Sweden’s Sweco has won a €1.5m ($2m) contract to carry out studies for a 90MW peat-fired power plant which will more than double Rwanda’s installed capacity. The power plant is expected to come on line by 2017. Sweco will prepare tender documents, specifications for implementation and a work plan for how to produce peat for the facility, as well as environmental and social impact studies.

The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation has announced an agreement with Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB), the Austrian development bank, to increase sustainable energy investment in sub-Saharan Africa, starting with Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. OeEB agreed to contribute €2m ($2.6m) to support project development, capacity building and assistance to financial institutions under the Africa Sustainable Energy Facility, a joint IFC and European Investment Bank (EIB) programme to increase investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Both institutions are contributing equally to the €60m financing facility, while OeEB, alongside EIB, is providing additional funds for a support unit that will identify and facilitate investments.

The Office of the Ombudsman has said that the names of those convicted of embezzlement of public funds may soon be made public. The office already releases the names of those found guilty of low-level corruption – farmers, taxi drivers, local defence personnel – but is under pressure to reveal those found guilty of bigger crimes. 


The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) is seeking a hydropower engineer to act as project manager for the regional Rusumo Falls project on the Kagera River. The scheme’s projected 80MW output will be shared between Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania, which will establish a special purpose vehicle to oversee implementation and operation.

On 30 January the Opec Fund for International Development (Ofid) signed a $12m supplementary loan agreement with Rwanda for the Electricity Access Scale-Up programme and a $10m loan with Uganda for the Energy Development and Access Expansion project.

The AfDB’s geothermal programme, initiated in the mid-2000s, is coming to fruition with the interest shown by private sector developers in the 400MW Menengai geothermal complex in Kenya, and the bank now intends to apply its new approach across the region, writes Dan Marks

Tanzania’s neighbour Burundi has licensed four blocks on Lake Tanganyika. Block A is held by Nigeria’s A-Z Petroleum Products, which also has Block L1A in Kenya. A-Z is part of the Chicason Group, owned by Chief Alexander Chika Okafor.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) board has approved a $24m equity investment in the Kampala-based East African Development Bank (EADB) to strengthen its balance sheet and help improve its international credit rating.