TITLE:
The Political Economy Analysis of Institutional Barriers to Rural Electrification in Tanzania
AUTHORS:
Kevin Rugaimukamu, Nzoja Elly Shauri, Remigius Charles Mazigwa
KEYWORDS:
Rural Electrification, Institutions, Political Economy, Tanzania
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.11 No.6,
June
29,
2023
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.