The Background of Malawi Rural Electrification Programme
Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (MAREP) started in 1980 with Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi ( ESCOM ) as the implementing agency through donor and own financing. Later on, Government of Malawi took over implementation of the programme in 1995 and the Department of Energy (DOE) was appointed implementing agency The programme is executed in Phases. Since MAREP inception, eight phases of the programme have been implemented. This involved extending power distribution lines to district administration centres, major trading centres, tobacco growing areas and the development of the 4.5 Mega Watt Wovwe Hydro electric Power Plant. The objective of MAREP is to increase access to electricity for people in peri-urban and rural areas as part of Government’s effort to reduce poverty, transform rural economies, improve productivity and improve the quality of social services according to the Rural Electrification Act, 2004.
The Department of Energy Affairs started with construction of MAREP Phase IV in 2002 and was completed in May 2007 with a total of 97 trading centers electrified. MAREP phase V electrified 27 trading centers across the country and was completed in 2009. In Phase VII, MAREP implemented 54 trading centres, two centres in each of the 27 Districts except Likoma which is fully electrified.
Implementation of Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (MAREP) is according to the Rural Electrification Master Plan formulated in 2003, updated from time to time, which draws its mandate from the Rural Electrification Act, 2004.
The Rural Electrification Fund (REF) is the main source of funding for MAREP activities. Other sources of the Fund include: (i) Such sums as shall be appropriated by Parliament for the purposes of the Fund; (ii) Rural electrification levies on energy sales as may, from time to time, be imposed by the Authority under the Energy Regulation Act; (iii) Such sums or assets as may, from time to time, accrue to or vest in the Fund by way of grants, subsidies, bequests, donations, gifts and subscriptions from the Government or any person; (iv) Such sums or assets as may be donated to the Fund by any foreign Government, international agency or other external body of persons, corporate or unincorporated; (v) 50% of penalties and fines payable or imposed under this Act; (vi) The proceeds from sale of rural electrification lines and equipment funded by the Fund; and (vii) Any other income authorized under this Act or income recognized as such by accounting standards and practices.
Management of Rural Electrification assets is supposed to be under a concessionaire. However, in the absence of such concessionaire, operation and maintenance of all MAREP assets are done by the country's power utility company, ESCOM.
Objectives of the Malawi Rural Electrification Programme
The objective of MAREP is to increase access to electricity for people in peri-urban and rural areas as part of Government’s effort to reduce poverty, transform rural economies, improve productivity and improve the quality of social services.
Rural Electrification Management Committee (REMAC)
REMAC was established in pursuant to Section 4 (1) of the Rural Electrification Act No. 21 of 2004.
Objectives of REMAC:
The major objectives of REMAC include the following:
- To ensure that the majority of the Malawian population in peri-urban and rural communities have access to efficient, sustainable and affordable energy for their social economic development through grid extension and off grid electricity supply, including solar home system technologies;
- To raise funds and receive and administer the Fund for the benefit of rural electrification in Malawi;
- To prepare annual rural electrification programme(s) and advise the Minister on the prioritization, selection criteria on candidate sites, and ensure the efficient and effective implementation of rural electrification programmes;
- To promote rural electrification and act as a source of technical, commercial and institutional advice in rural electrification matters.
Phases of Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (MAREP)
The Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining is continuing with implementation of its flagship Malawi Rural Electrification Programme (MAREP). The Programme is implemented in phases, and the Ministry has just concluded electrification of 336 rural centres across the country under MAREP 8 thereby increasing access to electricity to rural masses.
However, the Ministry has noted that most of the rural households are taking long to connect their houses owing to a number of reasons which include inability to meet the connection fee. In this regard, the Ministry in collaboration with ESCOM is working on implementing Ndawala Project under which households will be connected with financial and technical support from the Ministry under MAREP and ESCOM at a cost which will be recovered through electricity bills.
The Ministry is currently preparing for implementation of Extended MAREP 8 which will see electrification of at least 200 extra rural centres. These are centres that were submitted to the Ministry when MAREP 8 was already in progress. The Ministry has just concluded evaluation of bids for contractors and suppliers of materials for Extended Marep 8. Construction of power lines under Extended MAREP 8 is expected to start few weeks.