Arua businesses seek more power connections
What you need to know:
- The West Nile Sub-region has for decades been faced with intermittent and inadequate power supply. This has negatively impacted on development of the sub-region, with many investors discouraged to invest in the area.
The business community in Arua City has tasked West Nile Rural Electrification Company (Wenreco) to intensify local power connections as the sub-region prepares to be connected to the national grid.
This they say will help demystify the notion that the sub-region does not have the capacity to utilise power from the national grid.
“About expansion of your network, we know Arua City is very big, about 400 Sq Km, and many townships are not connected to power. And many villages are not connected,” Mr Jimmy Awuzu Madira, the chairperson of Arua City Hotel Owners Association, said.
“So, it is a big cry that you increase your coverage and also most importantly, cost and speed of connection,” he added.
He was speaking on Tuesday during the launch of a partnership between MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) and Wenreco to make electricity tokens for West Nile.
Mr Awuzu said more residents and businesses need adequate power connection.
The regional manager for Wenreco, Mr Kenneth Kigumba, said it is the work of Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited to make more power connections in the area.
“It is the work of UEDCL to make more connections then we can distribute power to those on the new grid,” he said.
The West Nile Sub-region has for decades been faced with intermittent and inadequate power supply. This has negatively impacted on development of the sub-region, with many investors discouraged to invest in the area.
Effective yesterday, residents of West Nile started purchase electricity tokens directly through MTN Mobile Money. The partnership simplifies the process of acquiring electricity tokens from Wenreco.
Mr Kigumba hailed the partnership with MTN.
“The customer should have services at all times. This partnership will make our customers have a long-term engagement as we build more customer base,” he said.
The chief commercial manager for MTN Mobile Money, Mr Alex Wekoye, said: “The opportunity presented means that even if you are far away, one can be able to buy a power unit so that life goes on in a better way.”
Wenreco was formed in 2003 by the Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), a programme of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). At least 23,000 people are currently connected to the Wenreco power in West Nile.
In November last year, Parliament approved a request by the government to borrow up to $331.5 million (about Shs1.242 trillion ) from the International Development Association– IDA of the World Bank Group to support the electricity access scale-up project in West Nile.
Background
According to the Afrobarometer 2021 report, only one in four Ugandans (26 percent) live in households that are connected to the electric grid. Urban residents (67 percent) are five times as likely to have an electricity connection as their rural counterparts (13 percent).
