Uganda will receive Shs163.24b (€37.1 million) from the Agence Française de Development.
(AFD) after the two parties signed a financing agreement for the upgrading of a key transmission line, sources say.
The financing of the 400 kv transmission line upgrade project will cover a distance of 135 kilometers between the towns of Masaka and Mbarara, according to a statement from the AFD.
At the end of the upgrade, it is expected the transmission line will help in the evacuation of power from different sources and enable exports of electricity to neighbouring countries such as Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Germany’s KfW is the co-financier of this project, which follows feasibility studies that were financed by the European Union Infrastructure Trust Fund three years ago.
Uganda continues to face a lot of challenges in the transmission of its power. Many electricity generation projects such as Karuma and Isimba hydro power plant are expected to come on line over the next nine months, with worries that the transmission network might not be able to evacuate all this power.
Government has come up with policies that will compensate large consumers that are able to put up power distribution networks. Also, the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme regional interconnection project is expected to ease on the burden of the transmission network.
