African Development Bank funds EA hydro project

The African Development Bank Group’s (AfDB) on Thursday  approved US$ 113 million for the 80MW Regional Rusumo Falls Hydropower Project. The  African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund  will cough US$97.3 million   while the the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) window  approved a grant of US$16 million. The project will benefit Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.

“Africa has incredible untapped hydropower potential: only four per cent of which has been exploited,” explained Alex Rugamba, Director of the AfDB’s Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department.

“Through projects such as the Rusumo Falls project we are looking to leverage Africa’s natural assets for universal access to modern, reliable and affordable energy services on the continent,” Rugamba added.

The development agency said in an official statement that the construction of the transmission facilities of the power generation plant is expected to be completed by August 2018 with the three beneficiary countries sharing the power equally and Burundi receiving 50 percent of it’s current peak power demand.

“The project will enhance the process of regional integration by the countries developing and managing the joint assets,” AfDB said.

The Rusumo Falls is on Kagera River in Rwanda. The  project is a Programme for Infrastructure Development for Africa (PIDA) priority project. In 2012, African Heads of State endorsed a set of priority energy projects to be implemented by 2020 as part of the PIDA.

Rusumo Falls is one of nine hydropower projects identified for the PIDA energy infrastructure program, which focuses on major hydroelectric projects and interconnects the power pools between countries.

Mombasa-Kigali Railway to be launched on Nov.28th

A railway Line Under construction.
This is how we do it

The ground breaking ceremony for the Mombasa –Kigali standard Gauge Railway line is slated for November 28^th, we can report. This marks the beginning of the construction of the US$ 13.5 billion 2937KM standard Gauge railway line sponsored by the governments of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.

Kenya has already secured US$3.75 from China for the construction of the line and rolling stock. The Kenyan side of the line will cover some 1185km running from Mombasa through Nairobi to Malaba with a branch line to Kisumu. This section is expected to be completed by 2017. The entire project is expected to be complete by 2018.

Mombasa  Port: Congested

 Across the borders the project will involve; a 1,400km rail from Malaba to Kampala and branching to four Ugandan towns before connecting to the main line to Rwanda at Mirima Hills; a 200km rail from Mirima Hills to Kigali and an extra 150km rail to other towns in Rwanda.

The new line will enable passenger trains to run at 120Km per hour while freight trains will do 80km per hour. It is expected to cut freight costs from the port of Mombasa to Kisumu by whopping75 per cent from about US$1,648 to US$353 per 20 foot container.

The Mombasa Port-Kampala-Kigali Railway line, christened Mokaki, comes at an opportune time as the Port of Mombasa, the largest Port in east Africa, is also being expanded to meet the growing demand. The Port which handled 21 Million tons of freight last year, plans to raise its capacity to 40 million tons a year from 2015. Read http://eaers.blogspot.com/2013/07/kenya-ports-post-panamax-project-ahead.html

 Freight to and from Uganda and Rwanda stood at 23 million tons last year and grows at three percent a year. A part from imports, growing trade between Kenya and her two neighbours will also benefit from the construction of the high-speed Railway line. For further reading visit: http://eaers.blogspot.com/2013/07/coming-soon-mombasa-kigali-express.html