The Political Economy Analysis of Institutional Barriers to Rural Electrification in Tanzania

Abstract

Institutions play a great role in the smooth implementation of development programmes in any sector. They affect how players within the policy space act and affect the policy outcomes of the designated programmes. This paper investigates the institutional barriers to rural electrification in Tanzania. We investigate if the political clergy and energy sector governing entities in Tanzania constrain the smooth implementation of rural electrification projects. Moreover, we investigate if the current rules, laws, and regulations in the electricity industry and supporting sectors attract investments in rural electrification projects. Furthermore, we review policies, strategies, and interventions within the energy sector with regards to rural electrification. We use primary data collected from key informants in the sector, augmented with secondary data from official reports and periodicals from key government and non-government entities in the electricity sector. Qualitative data analysis techniques were used to ascertain the key institutional barriers to rural electrification in Tanzania. Institutional barriers pertaining to non-independence of institutions within the energy sector, deficiencies of the existing policies, strategies and interventions pertaining to rural electrification, the supporting framework's modus operandi not accustomed to serve the electricity sector, the uncertainties created by the laws and regulations governing the sector, and the institutional specific challenges facing the governing institutions in Tanzania formed some of the key bottlenecks hampering the timely implementation of and achieving of desired outcomes by rural electrification projects in Tanzania as perceived by the stakeholders in the Tanzanian electricity industry.

Estimations of Multidimensional Energy Poverty in Tanzania

“…To offer a comprehensive understanding of this complex issue, the study employs the Alkire and Foster (2011) multidimensional approach framework based on capability theory that has not been implemented in Tanzania before. Most of the studies in Tanzania use a unidimension approach (Rugaimukamu et al, 2023). This study acknowledges that energy poverty has different dimensions, as recognized by Alkire et al (2015), the World Bank (2022), and Nussbaumer et al (2012).…”