An Energy Expert has called on government to scale up the electrification of rural areas in order to attain the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal number 7 which calls for universal access to clean and affordable electricity for all.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, Johnstone Chikwanda observed that Zambia has lagged behind in terms of rural electrification as the rate is around 4 percent while the entire country is about 30 percent.
“As you know, rural electrification, we have lagged behind so much, just generally the entire country we are at about 30 percent electrification on average, but with rural electrification, the numbers are somewhere around 4 percent.”
Mr. Chikwanda said according to Rural Electrification Authority Master plan which runs up to 2030, the authority intends to power rural areas from three to 51 percent, but argues that the country can do much better than that.
He explained that REA is spending 50 million US dollars budget per year which will take them to 51 percent rural electrification rate, but that there is need to double the amount in order for Zambia to attain the 2030 United Nations SDG deadline at more than 90 percent .
“According to Rural Electrification Master plan which runs up to 2030, they want to electrify rural areas from 3 percent to 51 percent, and my argument is that we can do much better than that because by the year 2030 itself, the United Nations sustainable development goal number 7, which calls for universal access to clean and affordable electricity for all by 2030 that’s the deadline, so we need to do everything we can as a country to ensure that we end on a different footing and not on 51 percent.”
“I am saying not 51 percent because they are spending 50 million US dollars per year that is what will take them to 51 percent rural electrification, but my position and challenge is that we can do more than that, we can double that 50 million dollars budget in order for us to finish at 90 percent,” he said.