NAWEC to receive over D330m to provide “affordable and consistent” power supply

The National Water and Electricity Company Limited is to received US$12 million, equivalent to more than D336 million, for a project to upstage the Kotu Power Station with a view to providing the population, particularly unconnected communities, with an “affordable and consistent” supply of electricity.

“At least 500,000 people will benefit from the upgraded Kotu Power Station,” a statement issued on Monday by the governing board of OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), which provides funding for the project, has said.

The multi-million dollar project, approved at the 139th session of the governing board of OFID held in the Austrian capital Vienna, is part of the 13 loans and grants totaling nearly US$66 million that the OFID board has approved to cover development projects in agriculture, education, energy, transportation and water supply sectors in over 34 countries six of which are in Africa, including The Gambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Guinea.

According to the statement, a US$5 million loan will be injected in a rice cultivation project in Masina in the DRC to help reduce poverty and boost food security through the expansion of an irrigation network and construction of agricultural infrastructure.  The project will benefit close to 10 million inhabitants near the capital of Kinshasa.

In Mauritania, the Aftout Al Chargui Solar Electrification Development will be upstaged to provide energy to about 100,000 inhabitants living extremely impoverished. US$11.93 million is being provided for the project.

The OFID was also putting US$15 million at the disposal of Uganda’s Masaka-Bukakara Road, a 40.6 km-long stretch that is one of the primary means of mainland travel in the Kalangala District.

It is envisaged that the project will facilitate access to marketplaces and social infrastructure.