Dar Es Salaam, Jan 6 (IANS): Tanzanian authorities announced that preparations for the African Heads of State Energy Summit, scheduled for January 27-28, are well underway.

The summit, also known as the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit, is a landmark event aimed at accelerating energy access across the continent, Xinhua news agency reported.

Noel Kaganda, director of the Department of Multilateral Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, told editors and journalists in Dar es Salaam that Tanzania has co-organised the summit, which will bring together over 1,500 delegates, including representatives from the African Union, the African Development Bank Group, and the World Bank Group.

Kaganda highlighted the summit as a platform for governments, private sector leaders, development partners, and civil society to advance the goal of providing electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030.

Innocent Luoga, commissioner for electricity and renewable energy in the Ministry of Energy, said 14 pilot African countries are expected to endorse the Africa Energy Compact, an initiative to achieve universal energy access by 2030.

These nations collectively account for 52 per cent of the global population without electricity and a quarter of the world's population lacking access to clean cooking solutions.

Gerson Msigwa, Tanzania's chief government spokesperson, said the country is ramping up electricity generation, citing the Julius Nyerere Hydroelectric Power Project (JNHP) as a key initiative. Currently, the JNHP is generating 1,410 megawatts from six turbines. Upon project completion later this year, it is expected to generate 2,115 megawatts, significantly boosting Tanzania's energy capacity.

Msigwa added that projects utilising alternative energy sources, including geothermal, solar, and wind power, are expected to contribute an additional 1,100 megawatts.