Africa: How Electricity Is Powering Value Addition in Tanzania’s Villages
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Where villagers once struggled with basic tools and meager earnings, they now use modern electric machinery to create valuable finished products.
- From increased rice production and reduced transportation costs, to booming sunflower oil businesses, access to reliable power is boosting local economies.
- Tanzania is bringing its vision of universal electrification to reality with support from a $550 million International Development Association investment.
TANGA, May 13, 2025–The remote village of Doda has a story to tell. Two years ago, artisans like Twalib Matata toiled with basic tools to carve a living from the region’s distinctive Tanga stone, only to have to sell it unprocessed for meager returns. That all changed two years ago with the arrival of electricity, brought by the Tanzania Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
Today, Doda, located in the coastal region of Tanga, is abuzz with the hum of modern machinery, with which Twalib and other artisans cut and refine raw stone into valuable finished products. This has dramatically increased income from their jobs.
In the past, we were at the mercy of low prices and limited demand. We struggled to make ends meet, as we could only sell unprocessed stones for about 5,000 Tanzania shillings ($1.86), which is rather low.”
Twalib Matata Artisan
The arrival of electricity has ushered in a new era. With the electric-powered tools and machinery, artisans work around the clock, skillfully cutting and creating refined products, which command prices as high as Tsh 30,000 ($11.15) per square meter. The convenience of ready-cut stone has proven highly attractive to buyers, resulting in a boost in demand. “Electricity has helped our business to supply a wide range of clients,” said Twalib. “We were extremely proud to have been selected to support a major stone contract for the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project. This would not have been possible if were not for our access to electricity.”
The fare factor
Better health, education, jobs, and livelihoods are becoming a reality for many villagers across Tanzania, thanks to the multiphase $550 million support to REA via the Tanzania Rural Electrification Expansion Program (TREEP)-Program for Results, financed by the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) ($535 million), the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program ($6 million), and highly concessional funding from CIF’s Scaling up Renewable Energy Program ($9 million). Across the country in Isunga village in Kwimba district, Jacob Daudi, a local business owner, has transformed his grain warehouse into a rice mill, powered by electricity since February 2023. This has drastically reduced transportation costs for residents in the area, who previously traveled 28 kilometers to mill their rice, adding Tsh 10,000 ($3.72) to their costs.
Local farmer Lameck Lubeja explained: “We used to transport our paddy in groups of five farmers in order to share the cost which was rather high.” Now, not only has transportation become easier, but farmers are benefiting from higher prices, and selling rice at Tsh 1,000 (37 cents) per kilogram compared to a previous Tsh 700 (26 cents). Reliable electricity has improved the quality of processing, eliminated rejections and boosted the market value for their rice. “The profit we have gained has enabled us to acquire more land and open additional businesses here,” said Daudi. The mill has created livelihood opportunities for women, including roles in machine maintenance, food vending, and winnowing.
Sunflower boom
The Palu sunflower oil processing plant has also transformed the local sunflower industry in Kwimba since electrification in April 2023. Before that, sunflower farmers struggled. The nearest processing facility was 21 kilometers away, the prohibitive transportation costs making cultivation unprofitable for many due. With the arrival of the electrical grid, Revocatus Petro, the owner of the Palu plant, invested in two new processing machines in the village.
Gerald Mabula, a prominent sunflower farmer in Kwimba, vividly remembers the hardship of transporting his harvest for processing, which cost him Tsh 10,000, eating into his margins. Back then, he cultivated only one hectare of land, barely enough for personal use. But with the arrival of electricity, Mabula has expanded to seven hectares. “I feel I am now running a real business,” he explained. “I’m able to harvest 15-20 sacks of sunflower seeds, which give me about 200 liters of oil to sell. … I’ve invested the profits into a convenience shop.”
The proximity of the processing plant has encouraged more residents to grow sunflowers, processing the oil for sale or personal use.
Time savings
Established in 2006, Mwasongwe Farms, a mixed livestock and poultry operation in nearby Misungwi district, struggled for years with unreliable power. The business initially relied on solar power, investing over Tsh 7 million ($2,597) in nighttime lighting. However, as farm manager Faraja Nyoni explained, it “proved inefficient as the batteries couldn’t last to meet our needs.” Switching to generators only introduced new problems: “The high fuel costs (of 100,000 shillings or $37.23 a day) and constant maintenance limited our profitability and productivity.”
The arrival of grid electricity in 2024 marked a turning point. Extended working hours have boosted poultry production and egg output. “We are using the extra time to expand the business and engage in vegetable farming too, since we have plenty of land for it,” said Nyoni. “And we are planning to introduce a mechanized slaughtering and processing unit.” Beyond the business benefits, electrification has improved Nyoni’s work-life balance as well: “It has allowed me to pursue hobbies like baking and reading.”
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