Zambia starts project to expand rural power access

LUSAKA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Zambia commenced a World Bank-funded project on Monday to connect about 100,000 households and businesses in rural and peri-urban areas to electricity.

The project is being implemented by the state power utility Zesco Limited and the Rural Electrification Authority (REA), a government agency mandated to provide electricity to rural areas.

As part of the World Bank-supported Accelerating Sustainable and Clean Energy Transformation in Zambia program, the five-year project is supported by 200 million U.S. dollars from the World Bank, complementing a 250-million-dollar government funding commitment.

In a joint statement, Zesco Limited and REA said that the program will enable new customers to access electricity at a subsidized price, with priority given to women-headed households and female-owned enterprises.

"Each province has been allocated 10,000 subsidized connections during the initial rollout, in line with the national target of 100,000 connections," the statement said, adding that the approach is intended to ensure that all of Zambia's 10 provinces have an equal opportunity to benefit from the project.

Zambia's Minister of Energy Makozo Chikote recently said the country's electricity access rate currently stands at 51 percent, with rural access at only 33 percent. ■