Energy Sector Stakeholders Bang Heads
Banda: Energy sector has made strides
Stakeholders in the energy sector have been challenged to enhance their efforts and aggressively tackle the severe power poverty in Malawi.
Janet Banda, Head of the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU), made this statement on Wednesday at the opening of a two-day Power Sector Coordination Pre-Lab in Lilongwe.
Banda acknowledged that while the energy sector has made strides and the situation has improved, there is a need for expansion to allow other sectors, such as mining and manufacturing, to thrive.
“We need these stakeholders to have an open discussion about the challenges affecting the growth of the energy industry, particularly in generation, transmission, and distribution, as well as the issues among key stakeholders in the sector, to find solutions for the main energy lab,” Banda said.
Milward Mafuta, Director of Electricity in the Ministry of Energy, suggested that increasing funding to the Energy Generation Company (EGENCO) would be crucial for ensuring sustainable power generation, rather than relying solely on the private sector.
However, Collen Zalengera, Country Lead for the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, advised the government to follow through on financing energy projects.
“Malawi has immense potential to grow in the energy sector; what is critical is that when the country sets up plans, they must be implemented,” said Zalengera.
Meanwhile, Mafuta emphasized that the ministry is working diligently to ensure the country has sufficient power in the grid for both domestic and industrial use, but he also highlighted the need for significant investment in EGENCO.
“We are not completely off track. We need more generation capacity, yes, but we also need to address the issue of demand. From 2023 to 2024, the access rate has improved significantly from about 12 percent to around 25 percent,” Mafuta stated.
The stakeholders will convene for two days to identify the bottlenecks hindering the sector in preparation for the Power Sector Coordination Delivery Lab scheduled for next week
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