DODOMA – DEPUTY Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Doto Biteko has opened up to fellow Members of Parliament and, of course, Tanzanians, how challenging the task of preparing the Energy Summit held early last week in Dar es Salaam was.

Speaking in Parliament when contributing to the resolution tabled by CCM Special Seats MP Asia Halamga to congratulate President Samia Suluhu Hassan for her exemplary leadership, Dr Biteko said they knew beforehand that preparations for the Summit would be challenging but they were not aware if the delegations from outside the country could consist of high number of members.

According to Dr Biteko, given the high turnout of delegates from outside the country, the government was forced to slash the number of Tanzanian participants from 497 to only 90 people.

The World Bank (WB), according to the Deputy Prime Minster, had confirmed to bring in 120 participants but, in the end, only 26 of them could be accommodated. Furthermore, the African Development Bank (AfDB) had confirmed to bring 180 people but the continental financial institution was forced to have only 47 people.

Rockefeller Foundation, on its part, was forced to have only five representatives. According to Dr Biteko, some participants to the Summit were accommodated in Zanzibar.

He said Tanzania’s good performance in the world’s diplomatic stage and its decision to champion for availing electricity to rural population and clean cooking energy to Tanzanians and Africans are among the reasons that prompted the World Bank and Africa Development Bank to engage Tanzania to host the Energy Summit.

The Summit attracted a total of 21 African Heads of State and other representatives of international organisations.

The Deputy Prime Minister said before engaging Tanzania into hosting the Energy Summit, the World Bank carried out a survey last year after which it established that the country was leading in implementing rural electrification programme.

Speaking on the outcomes of the Summit, Dr Biteko said the number of stakeholders and financial commitments that would now finance power projects in Africa increased.

He said, as a result of the Summit, the World Bank promised to dish out a total of 22 billion US dollars to finance power projects in Africa under Energy Compact initiative.

He mentioned other international financial institutions that will support power projects under the initiative with the amounts in brackets as AfDB (18.2 billion US dollars) and the Islamic Development Bank Group-IsDB ( 2.65 billion US dollars).

Expressing the commitment, the IsDB Group said in its website: “Energy access is not just a development goal— it is a fundamental human right and a moral imperative.

Today, nearly 600 million people in Africa still live without electricity, holding back progress in education, healthcare and economic growth.”

It added: “The IsDB Group is taking bold action with a commitment of 2.65 billion US dollars, backed by 2 billion US dollars in insurance coverage for Africa’s electricity sector.

This strategic investment will de-risk projects, unlock private capital and drive transformative energy solutions at scale.” Others with their financial commitments to finance the programme are; the Asian Development Bank (1.5 billion US dollars), OPEC Fund (1 billion US dollars) and French government (1 billion US dollars).

Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit is a transformative initiative aimed at addressing Africa’s critical energy access challenges by providing electricity to 300 million people by 2030.

The initiative will mobilise investments, fostering policy reforms and expand energy access through National Energy Compacts.

Large-scale energy projects are expected to create millions of jobs, both directly through construction and operation and indirectly by fuelling industries dependent on reliable energy access.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the backbone of many African economies, stand to benefit significantly from the widespread availability of affordable and stable electricity.

This could drive greater productivity, boost incomes and accelerate GDP growth, fostering economic transformation across the continent