Low income earners to benefit from Shs5b energy programme

Mr Abdnoor Mulumba shows State minister for Minerals Peter Lokeris (C) how a multi-purpose bricket making machine works during the launch of the Energy week on Monday. Right is commissioner for Energy James Banaabe. PHOTO BY RACHEL MABALA

What you need to know:

Numbers. More than 40,000 people are expected to benefit.

Kampala. The Ministry of Energy has launched a Clean Start programme that focuses on offering financing solutions for low income earners that want to pay for high-quality, affordable clean energy.
The programme, launched in partnership with the United Nations Capital Development Fund, targets more than 40,000 beneficiaries who are expected to make a shift to clean energy by 2017.
The project is estimated to cost Shs4.7b which will be distributed among about 10 selected financial institutions.
“We shall distribute about $200,000 (about 734m) to financial institutions to help them lend out to people who can acquire energy systems they are interested in using. Interested financial companies will send their proposals to the ministry and this will last for a period of two years.” said Mr James Baanabe Isingoma, the acting commissioner energy efficiency and conservation department.
He was speaking at the launch of the Energy week 2015 in Kampala on Tuesday.
This programme is part of Uganda’s vision of meeting every Ugandan’s energy needs in an environmentally suitable way of which little has been done in the past years. It is expected to attract an additional $20m (about 73b).
“This comes at a point where only 17 per cent of Uganda’s population have access to electricity which shows there is need to recognise that traditional models of expansion of grid alone cannot enable us reach our targets,” said minister of State for Minerals Peter Lokeris.
The minister said the focus this year is to recognise the important role energy plays as a driver for development in the country. “..so that we strategise how we can avail it as well as use it in a rationally sustainable manner.”
The Energy week has also received positive response from exhibitors who have increase to 100 from the 80 registered last year.

About the Project
The Clean Start programme is a project of the United Nations Capital Development Fund where it is partnering with the government of Uganda to provide soft loans to enable the low income earners access cheaper affordable energy solutions. It is aligned to the sustainable development goal of renewable energy.