By Wendy Mkandawire
The Minister of Energy, Jean Mathanga, has urged Members of Parliament to work with district councils to ensure that areas without electricity are registered for rural electrification under the Malawi Rural Electrification Programme, MAREP.
The call comes as Malawi faces a power generation deficit of over 150 megawatts.
Mathanga said the country currently generates about 551MW against a national demand of more than 700MW.
She added that the government has resolved to construct additional power plants to increase generation and improve the reliability of electricity supply nationwide.
Meanwhile, Mathanga has assured that the Malawi-Mozambique Power Interconnector will be launched at the end of this month.
She also highlighted that both countries have advanced work on the project, which will enable Malawi to import power from the regional market and help ease the current generation deficit.
This comes as several members of parliament have pressured government in Parliament to fast-track rural electrification, citing how the lack of power is affecting businesses, schools, and health facilities in their constituencies.
MAREP targets rural areas and trading centres that are not connected to the national grid. Projects are being implemented in phases through government funding and support from development partners.
