THE Rural Electrification Authority (REA) should update the nation regarding the number of connections to be made under the 2023 budget cycle to allow stakeholders in the energy sector to keep track of electrification rate performance as the country draws closer to 2030 target of universal access to electricity, energy expert Johnstone Chikwanda has said.
REA received unprecedented funding in the 2023 National Budget to the tune of K720 million up by 100% from previous budget allocation.
Speaking with The Scoop, Dr. Chikwanda said that with more efforts aimed at increasing electricity generation in the country compared to last year, it was important that REA and Zesco updated the nation on the progress made on dismantling the backlog of connections and how many connections were expected over the next year.
He pointed out the national address to Parliament by President Hakainde Hichilema recently as progressive as he highlighted that the Government had shortened approval processes for procurement of Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Zesco to 10 days in some cases.
He said that amendments to certain laws would be made to shorten the regulatory approval processes which was commendable.
“This is a welcome development and I commend the Government for achieving this milestone and overall progress being made in the energy sector. However, I wish to state that apart from amending the specific laws aimed at shortening the cumbersome and lengthy approval processes, there is a need to also improve funding to the institutions dealing with various approval stages such as local councils, Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) and Energy Regulation Board (ERB). ZEMA and ERB have customer service charters which stipulate timeframes for discharging their mandate,” Dr. Chikwanda explained.
He explained that the laws which established these institutions had provided for timeframes in which to conclude certain approvals but that they had been failing in most cases to operate within those time frames.
He further noted the need to increase funding to institutions such as local councils, Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) and Energy Regulation Board (ERB) to enable them to improve manpower, logistics, and decentralization of operations and improved delegation of approval rights to management teams.
He further applauded the conversion of the TAZAMA pipeline to be transporting refined low sulphur diesel and the closure of Indeni Petroleum Refinery as it would be advisable if TAZAMA and Indeni updated the nation on how much savings were expected from those well intended energy sector reforms.