Zanzibar Energy Sector Access and Transformation Project (ZESTA) is set to receive a financial boost following World Banks International Development Association (IDA) plans to inject a total of US$ 142M for the implementation of the said project.
This amount includes a loan of US$ 117M from the IDA as well as a loan of US$ 22M and a grant of US$ 3M from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), one of the two multi-donor trust funds within the wider Climate Investment Funds (CIFs).
This investment will help provide electricity to nearly 400,000 people in Zanzibar, a country where according to Mara Warwick, the resident representative of the World Bank, only 57% of citizens have access to electricity.
“Investments in the energy sector are urgently needed to help improve human capital, remove barriers to more and better jobs, and boost productivity,” she said.
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Scope of the ZESTA
The Zanzibar Energy Sector Access and Transformation Project focus mainly on the development of renewable energy and storage infrastructure, which will allow the development of the island’s first grid-scale renewable energy production plant and battery storage infrastructure.
The project also involves the modernization of the island’s network and extension of access to electricity, as well as institutional strengthening which will help improve capacities for the modernization and growth of the electricity sector in the island.
It will be implemented by the Ministry of Water, Energy and Minerals, and the Zanzibar Electricity Corporation (ZECO) together with the Zanzibar Utilities Regulatory Authority, a multi-sectoral regulator responsible for technical and economic regulations of the Water and energy sector in the island which is located in the Indian Ocean, approximately 15 miles off the coast of Tanzania.
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