PHOTO
A Tanzanian engineer walks at the Songas gas processing plant in Songo Songo Island, 225 km south of the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam and 25 km off the coast of Tanzania January 27, 2005. Despite vast reserves of natural gas off its Indian Ocean coast estimated at more than 444 billion cubic feet, Tanzania still suffers from power shortages. Installed capacity from hydroelectric dams and diesel or gas powered turbines is 835MW, far above the peak demand of 510MW, but the power utility is beset by problems like vandalism of its transformers, low water levels in its five dilapidated distribution network. Picture taken January 27, 2005 TO GO WITH FEATURE ON ENERGY-TANZANIA. REUTERS/Emmanuel Kwitema EK/TM/WS
TUNIS, (TAP) - Tunisia and the African Development Bank (AfDB) Wednesday inked a 49.4 million euro (115 MTD) loan agreement.
The loan will fund a project for the development of natural gas transportation and distribution to the western part of the country which will help improve the living conditions of people in the area.
CEO of Tunisia's Electricity and Gas Corporation (STEG) Ameur Bchir said the loan is reimbursable over twenty years, including a five-year grace period, at a 0.4% interest rate.
The funding will help carry out the third phase of the natural gas network expansion project which has so far benefited 37% of households, that is 700,000 people.
Nineteen communities in four governorates (Jendouba, Siliana, Béja and El Kef) will be connected to STEG's natural gas supply system.
The total cost of the project is estimated at 56.5 million euros (132 MTD), 87.4% of which financed through an AfDB loan. The project beneficiaries include 13,400 households.
The nineteen communities are Tabarka, Medjez el Bab, Aïn Drahem, Bousalem, Tastour, Teboursouk, Bouarada, El Krib, Gobellat, Mâagoula, Nefza, Djerissa, Dahmani, Ksour, Tedjerouine and El Kef.
The accord was signed by Development, Investment and International Cooperation Minister Yassine Brahim and AfDB Regional Director for North Africa Jacob Kolster.
The project will help Tunisia transition to green growth by means of using natural gas, now only available to coastal communities, instead of polluting liquid and solid fuels, Kolster said.
© Tunis-Afrique Presse 2015
