Japan gives Malawi K23bn power project
Japan has handed over to the Malawi Government a K23 billion power project comprising Kanengo and Old Town substations in Lilongwe.
Speaking during the handover in Lilongwe yesterday, Japanese Ambassador Youichi Oya said the upgrading of Kanengo Substation demonstrated his government’s commitment towards Malawi’s development agenda.
She said: “Today, we are witnessing another milestone in the bilateral relationship between Japan and Malawi. My government committed K23 billion to this project.
“It will contribute to Malawi’s effort to improve electricity supply in Lilongwe. This is a true reflection of Japan’s commitment to supporting Malawi’s effort for its social and economic development.”
Receiving the project, Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola thanked Japan for the contribution, saying the project complemented Malawi’s goal to increase access to electricity in the country.
He said: “We are really grateful to the people and government of Japan. It is the wish of the government that as a country we should achieve the target of increasing our generation capacity to the national grid to 1 000 megawatts by 2025.
Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) board chairperson Morgan Tembo said the project has helped to develop the capacity of local engineers on new technologies through knowledge transfers.
The Kanengo Substation is expected to improve the capacity from 85 mega watts (MW) to 158MW.
