Tanzania, Zambia discuss natural gas pipeline plan

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania and Zambia are considering the establishment of a new gas pipeline as they meet today to review the security and extension of the Tanzania-Zambia Mafuta (Tazama).

According to the Energy minister, Mr January Makamba, today’s meeting will also involve Tanzania’s minister for Defence, Mr Innocent Bashungwa and Home Affairs minister Hamad Yussuf Masauni.

The Zambian side will be represented by the minister for Defence, Mr Ambrose Lufuma, Zambian minister for Home Affairs and Internal Security Jacob Mwiimbu and their minister for Energy, Mr Peter Kapala.

Mr Makamba told the press yesterday that the discussion on the safety and security of the pipeline became eminent after the two countries decided to start transporting refined oil instead of crude oil. “The meeting will assess the implementation of security and safety issues of the Tazama oil pipeline as agreed upon in the first meeting of these three ministries, which was held in December 2022 in Dar es Salaam,” he said.

He added: “In the first meeting, various strategies were agreed upon, including the involvement of local communities in areas where the pipeline passes through.”

The Tazama pipeline stretches 1,710 kilometres from Kigamboni – Dar es Salaam, to Indeni – Ndola, Zambia, and can transit 90 million litres of oil a month.

According to Mr Makamba, the two countries also plan to expand the pipeline to accommodate more petroleum products and serve the southern regions of Tanzania.

He said: “We also plan to discuss the procedures for conducting a feasibility study for the construction of a new gas pipeline from Tanzania to Zambia.”

“These are strategic projects that, when implemented, will substantially reduce the costs of oil supply to our southern region and boost trade, especially through our ports to countries like Zambia and the DRC, which use them to transit oil,” said Makamba.

He later added that an assessment of the pipeline expansion to enable the transportation of all types of oil, including the evaluation of the natural gas pipeline, is currently ongoing.

The energy minister also provided an update on the construction of the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Dam Project, which he said has reached the minimum depth for power generation at 163.61 metres.

“To initiate electricity generation, the water level has to reach a minimum of 163 metres above sea level. Thus, we have reached and exceeded the minimum level,” he said.

According to the Energy Minister, the water volume has also reached 13 billion cubic metres, equal to 43 percent of the maximum level, which is 30 billion cubic metres. “We expect the wet testing at the dam to be around February 2024,” he said.