MEAP electricity connections hit 31,000

Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) says new electricity connections under the World Bank-funded Malawi Electricity Access Project (MEAP) reached 31,000, as of June 30 2023, up from 23,000.

The project seeks to connect 83,000 single-phase households by December 2023 and 180,000 by June 2024.

Meanwhile, MEAP Manager, McDivings Longwe says Escom is happy to have connected over 30,000 [30,914] direct services.

“When we talk about direct services, we are distinguishing them from long services. Directs are those that do not involve any pole while long services are the ones that involve the erection of poles and stringing of conductors,” he said.

The Southern Region tops the list with 13,363 new connections for the period in question followed by 10,329 for the Central Region and 7,222 for the North, he added.

Longwe had announced on June 9 2023 that the new connections hit 23,000 by May 31 2023 since February 2023 when the actual implementation of the project started.

MEAP targets households located within 500-metre radius from existing Escom distribution transformers, as part of the government’s efforts to increase access to electricity which currently stands at around 12 percent.

To qualify for MEAP, customers must have done wiring and paid K93,200 connection fee for single phase connections or must be those who can apply now and fulfill all the processes before the June 30 2024 project deadline.

MEAP or Sesa Project aims to increase access to electricity in Malawi through least cost medium voltage and low voltage network expansion.

Customers can kickstart the process of applying for Sesa Project connections by collecting application forms from either the nearest Escom office or downloading the form from Escom’s website.

Sesa Project was launched on December 23 2022, but only rolled out connections in February 2023, as Escom was finalizing logistical arrangements.

Electricity access is currently low in the country, estimated at 12 percent; hence the government’s efforts to increase the number in line with Vision 2063.