Tanzania: Energy Deals Faulty - Ewura

Dar es Salaam — Power production agreements that are not handled transparently are the reason for the recent problems in the energy sector.

The poor outcomes, according to the Energy and Water Utility Regulatory Authority (Ewura), always result in frustrations among the general public, politicians and other stakeholders in the sector.

The revelations were made in the city yesterday as local stakeholders in the sector met with their Kenyan counterparts with the Tanzanian side wishing to draw some lessons from the neighbouring country.

According to Ewura's director general Haruna Masebu there has been an overlap of responsibilities in the government that have led to poor planning, procurement and contracting in the power sector.

"We want to achieve consensus on the best way for government entities to cooperate in power sector planning, procurement and contracting. Ewura is committed to improving the outcomes of power procurement," Mr Masebu said.

The director general said his entity was also responsible for approving the initiation of procurement of power projects and approving purchase agreements. He said guidelines were underway to ensure procurement processes were following stipulated laws.

NSSF power project on course

By ORTON KIISHWEKO,  THE 150MW National Social Security Fund (NSSF) power project is likely to get a boost of $100m (160bn/-) in the ongoing bidding process. In an interview on Sunday , the NSSF Procurement Manager, Ms Amina Abdallah, confirmed that the bids have reached advanced stages and that they would be announced before the year ends. "I cannot give details since we are in the last stages but this should come before the year ends," she said. Four companies have submitted bids for the tender including BGR Energy (Siemens Machines) $183,520,000, Megawatt (Rolls Royce machine): $155, 273,820); Megawatt (GE machine): $177,901,620; and Isolux Corsan: $143,987,200.