Tanzania is expanding electricity connections through a new financing partnership between Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) and CRDB Bank, as the government seeks to reduce the cost of connecting households to the national power system.
Vice-President Deogratius Ndejembi said on 2 October that Tanzania had reached about nine million electricity customers, with six million served by TANESCO and a further three million supported through the Rural Energy Agency (REA). He described the country as a continental leader in connecting citizens to electricity, citing World Bank statistics. That broader claim, however, is not supported by the World Bank’s latest comparable electricity-access data, which put Tanzania’s access rate at 52.4% in 2024.
The distinction between electricity access and household connectivity is significant. Tanzania’s National Energy Compact, prepared under the Africa-wide Mission 300 initiative, records electricity connectivity at 46% in 2022 and sets a target of 75% by 2030. The compact also notes that access and connectivity are measured differently, with access referring to proximity to an electricity supply point and connectivity referring to households actually connected to electricity services.
TANESCO’s latest distribution figures show that it served 5.83 million customers at the end of 2025, while reporting an overall electricity connection rate of 52.1% and electricity access of 85.5%. The utility also says all mainland villages have been connected to electricity, although this does not mean that every household within those villages has an electricity connection.
Under the new TANESCO-CRDB arrangement, the bank will finance the 27,000 Tanzanian shilling connection charge for eligible customers in rural and peri-urban areas, with the initial programme targeting 500,000 customers a year. Urban customers will be offered arrangements allowing connection costs to be paid in instalments. CRDB has separately said it has allocated 1 billion shillings annually to the initiative.
The initiative forms part of a wider effort to accelerate last-mile electrification. Tanzania’s Energy Compact identifies the need for significant additional investment and targets universal electricity access by 2030. The World Bank said in June that 7.5 million people in Tanzania had gained access to power under Mission 300, reflecting the scale of recent expansion while highlighting the remaining challenge of converting infrastructure coverage into household connections.
The financing partnership therefore represents more than an expansion of the customer base. By addressing connection costs, it seeks to close part of the gap between the presence of electricity infrastructure and households’ ability to use it, particularly in rural and peri-urban communities.
