Malawi’s Energy Minister Honorable Ibrahim Matola has stressed on the need for regional integration to alleviate energy challenges facing countries including Malawi.
Honorable Matola told the delegates at the 4th Tanzania Energy Congress which is currently underway in Dar-Es-Salam, United Republic of Tanzania.
Honorable Matola has stressed on the necessity of regional integration in the energy sector in order to achieve goal number 7 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , which advocates for sustainable energy for all.
Malawi Energy Minister, who was a co-panelist on the session titled “Improving Africa’s Economy Through Energy Sector Market Development Expansion,” elaborated that in order to achieve goal SDG 7, it is necessary to create favourable environments that will encourage private sector participation and collaboration among African countries.
โAs a starting point, we need to review archaic laws and policies in order to improve Africaโs Economy through energy sector market development expansion. Currently, we have regional projects that Malawi has and plans to develop with its neighbors. The Mozambique-Malawi Interconnector Project which has already kicked off, is one example,โ he explained.
The Honorable Minister further revealed plans of Malawi government to interconnect with Zambia and Tanzania as well as the Songwe hydropower project which is envisaged to be jointly developed by the Malawi and Tanzania governments.
The minister has been accompanied by officials from Ministry of Energy, Electricity Generation Company (EGENCO), Electricity Supply Cooperation of Malawi (ESCOM) and Power Market Limited (PML).
The congress that is expected to run from 3rd to 4th August 2022, during which delegates from different African countries will be discussing the unified vision and pathways for Africaโs energy transition, the need for access to continued investment and funding allocation for oil, gas, Liquified Natural Gas and renewable energy, to ensure access to energy for all.
