1139 villages get electric access in Ethiopia

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According to the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, in the first two years of the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP-II) in Ethiopia, 993 villages have got access to electricity. 146 towns’ electric supply has also been upgraded.

The Ministry further said that during the last six months, under the National Electrification Program, 254 villages got access.

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At a consultative forum held with enterprises engaged on the production of electric poles and installation, the Ministry’s Program Planning and Engineering Head Challa Aman said though the plan for the last six months was to electrify 330 new villages and upgrade 42 towns; the performance is at 254 and 35 respectively.

Increase electricity access

The National Electrification Program aimed at raising the electric access of the country to 90% at the end of the GTP-II through electrifying 10,205 towns and villages.

Accordingly, during the last two years of GTP-II, the Program has electrified 65 new villages and upgraded the services of three towns in Amhara State.

Likewise, it has electrified 346 and 82 upgrade services to towns in Oromia; and 228 and 47 in Southern Regions respectively. Furthermore, Challa noted that the Distribution Network Improvement Program is undertaking within eight major towns including the capital Addis Ababa with financial support gained from the World Bank and OFID.

At the end of the first Growth and Transformation Plan, about 4727 towns had access to electricity. The electricity coverage was 54.25 percent.