Mbeya: It has been reported that the construction of the 400 kilowatt Msongo electricity transmission line from Iringa to Zambia via Tunduma (TAZA) has reached 83.45 percent and is expected to be completed by May 2026, thus opening a new electricity trading market in Africa.
Speaking during a visit to inspect the implementation of the project on October 23, 2025 in Iganjo, Mbeya, the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Dr. James Mataragio said the TAZA project is important for the Nation as it will connect Tanzania with the Southern Africa Power Pool and also strengthen the connectivity of the East Africa Power Pool.
“I thank and congratulate President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan for allocating funds for the implementation of major energy projects. Through this project, we will strengthen the trade in selling and buying electricity between East African countries and those in Southern Africa”, said Dr. Mataragio
Regarding regional electricity trade, Dr. Mataragio said Tanzania has already connected its electricity grid with the African countries of Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia through the East Africa Power Pool.
“We will also connect the grid with the countries of North and West Africa so that the whole of Africa can trade electricity as part of implementing the Energy Plan that aims to provide electricity to approximately 600 million Africans who are still not connected to electricity”. Dr. Mataragio emphasized.
Regarding the TAZA project, he said it is being implemented by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania in collaboration with development partners, namely the World Bank, the European Union and the French Development Agency at a cost of US$584 million.
He said that apart from the TAZA project connecting the electricity grids of Southern African countries, it will connect Rukwa Region to the grid electricity as well as improve the availability of electricity in Iringa, Njombe, Mbeya and Songwe Regions.
After inspecting the project, Dr. Mataragio has instructed the Tanzania Electricity Corporation (TANESCO) to ensure that it closely supervises the Contractor especially during this rainy season so that the initial stages of the foundation construction can be completed on time and asked the Contractor to ensure that all equipment is in the Project area.
In another step, Dr. Mataragio has instructed TANESCO to ensure that it supplies electricity to the Ngozi area where the geothermal power generation project is being implemented, currently the geothermal verification plants in the area use diesel fuel.
The Deputy Secretary-General was accompanied by the Commissioner for Electricity and Renewable Energy, Engineer Innocent Luoga, and officials from the Ministry of Energy and TANESCO.
