It’s a tale of delays, missed deadlines and the grinding problems that can dog large-scale infrastructure projects. Work to connect electricity lines between Malawi and neighbouring Mozambique was scheduled to have been completed by 2002. The deadline has now been shifted to 2005, however -‒ and officials aren’t ruling out 2006.
The project involves laying high voltage cables over a distance of 220km from the Matambo power station in Mozambique’s north-western Tete province to Phalula, 60km north of Malawi’s commercial capital, Blantyre.
It is aimed at ending the frequent power failures in Malawi that are caused by prolonged environmental degradation along the Shire river -‒ site of the hydro-electric plants that form Malawi’s main source of power.
As a report issued in January of this year underscored, the power cuts aren’t just inconvenient -‒ they are also undermining capital flows into the country.
The document, issued by the National Statistical Office, the Reserve bank of Malawi and the Malawi Investment Promotion Agency, said that electricity problems were one of the major factors behind a decline in foreign investment during recent years.
Private sector experts agree.
“All parties lose from the current supply situation. Businesses are incurring extra costs from back-up generation; lower profits, forex earnings and investment,” says Jason Agar, Coordinator of the National Action Group, a forum for business, government and donors.
“Escom (the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi) loses revenue -‒ and government loses taxes,” he adds.
But, this self-evident need for reliable power hasn’t enabled officials to circumvent red tape.
Having completed a variety of studies on how the new cable will affect the environment -‒ and whether villagers will have to be resettled to accommodate it -‒ Malawi says it is ready to recruit a contractor to start building the line.
Mozambican officials, however, are still trying to assess possible environmental impacts on their side of the border.
“The work is obviously behind schedule and we wish we had done better, because the initial deadline has been missed,” says Lameck Mchembe, projects manager at Escom.
He blames the delays on protracted negotiations about the project -‒ and the donor community’s general unwillingness to dig into its pockets. The cost of the scheme is in the region of $154-million.
“Money has not been forthcoming and this has not kept pace with the other corresponding activities,” said Mchembe.
To date, the World Bank has pledged a loan of $84-million for project activities in Malawi, and put strict procurement procedures in place. The two countries have also approached the Norwegian government and the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA).
“Mozambique has requested us to consider funding their section of the project as part of the Nepad programme,” said Mwafonjo Muwila, the DBSA programme manager for African partnerships
“We expect to co-finance the investment phase with other financiers,” he said, adding that Malawi could also get project funding from the bank.
Nepad, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, is a plan which seeks to attract investment to the continent through improving governance in African countries. Muwila said the DBSA had set up a special unit to deal with the investment and development needs in Africa that have been highlighted by Nepad.
While work on the Malawi-Mozambique connection inches along, disruptions at the Shire hydro-electric plants are costing Lilongwe dearly.
In 2003, Escom lost more than half of its generating capacity after Nkula station, one of four generation sites on the Shire, was flooded. The power utility has borrowed four million dollars from the World Bank to carry out repairs to the plants, while a further six million dollars are in the pipeline.
“The interconnection (between Malawi and Mozambique) will relieve Escom from the current environmental problems, since they would be able to switch off generation stations for repairs during the rainy season and supply customers with the power from Mozambique,” said George Mkondiwa, permanent secretary in the ministry of natural resources, energy and environmental affairs.
Once the new cables are in place, they will also allow Malawi to start selling power to other countries in the region.
“Plans are already underway to set up a trading department modeled on the stock exchange to sell our power to the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region,” said Escom’s chief executive, Allexon Chiwaya.
Mozambique is already connected to other SADC countries, which it supplies with power from the Cahora Bassa dam. The Hydroelectrica de Cahora Bassa company exports 2 000 megawatts of electricity to Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
It is hoped that the Malawi-Mozambique project will ultimately form part of a larger “power corridor” linking Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Grand Inga hydro-electric project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has the potential to generate 40 000 megawatts of power, will form a key part of this corridor.
Inga’s capacity surpasses that of China’s controversial Three Gorges dam -‒ and could even meet the needs of the entire continent. – IPS