The United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) has expressed commitment to supporting Malawi’s Energy Sector after being impressed by the Sitolo 80KWp Solar PV Mini Grid, which is located in the group village headman Sitolo in Mchinji district.
United Nations Assistant Secretary General and United Nations Regional Bureau for Africa Director Ahunna Eziakonwa who is on an official mission in Malawi of undertaking number of activities in Malawi, made the remarks in Mchinji on Monday when she visited the Mingrid site.
“We are working with the government [of Malawi] in order to expand the project. By just seeing this, I’m impressed because we have seen women who have managed now to move from using firewood, which is hazardous to their health,” she said.
“They [Women] are now using the electricity which is has no pollution effect. Not only good for them, but also for the community, they are able to do their businesses.
“For us, Energy should not be in houses, it should improve the livelihoods as well, that’s what UNDP needs. So, to see a businessman who is able to now to use electricity to make his work easier, but previously he was using his machine manually. He can now make much bigger production.”
Commissioned in 2019, the plant [Sitolo Mingrid] has over 726 connections of which 35 are Businesses, 2 maize mills and 7 Social Institutions including a primary school.
The presence of electricity has changed the lives of the local populace who are living in an area that is even not able to access telecommunications services.
Eziakonwa said she was impressed by the way how the populace has changed with the presence of the solar-powered electricity.
“Women were struggling to carry the bags to go to Zambia border to maize mill and it was also at higher costs. Now, they are able to get the services here [in Sitolo Village] a d they don’t have to travel and they are also milling at lower costs,” she added.
With the coming of electricity in the community, Students are able to study during night hours a d teachers are even able to teach during night hours which has helped to raise the standards of education. For instance, last year, out of 45 students who sat for the Primary School Leaving Certificate last season at a near, 35 of them got selected to different Secondary schools.
“We have seen students here and I also spoke to the teacher who said that they were able to send 35 Children out of 45 to secondary school, which means that the kids can study more and teachers can teach at night and the kids are able to do their homework.
UNDP calls for more partners to “leave no one behind”
Malawi nlNational electrification rate remains the lowest even in the SADC region and UNDP are working on trying to “leaving no one behind” by reaching the rulal areas.
Speaking after inspecting the Mingrid, Eziakonwa said UNDP needs more partners to achieve 2030 agenda and sustainable goals.
“So, for us, it is about leaving no one behind, so we don’t want to leave any one behind. We want people to access our sustainable energy because [with Solar Energy] we are not polluting any environment.
“We are killing many birds with one stone and I’m very happy with this. Without electricity, a lot of people are being lect behind and their developmental projects are on stand-still.
“Our message is that we want more partners to come and support this project,” she added.
Minister of Energy, Honourable Ibrahim Matola commended the UNDP for inspecting the Mingrid and having the first hand message.
Matola said Dr Lazarus Chakwera’s Tonse Government is committed to working with several partners in order to increase the generation of power and allow people to have access to the electricity in the country.
“We would like to thank the donors and the community for their support in the energy sector. The government of Dr Lazarus Chakwera is committed to transforming, even accessibility, reliability, affordability electric power,” he said.
One of the beneficiaries, Annie Nyirenda said the coming of the solar-powered electricity has changed her life as she is now able to do several businesses using the affordable power.
The construction was done with financial and technical support from Government of Malawi, UNDP and GEF and it is being operated and managed by Community Energy Malawi social enterprise.
Another person whose life has changed with the coming of the electricity if a man who operates a cooking oil expeller where farmers in the area go with their sunflower seeds for free production of cooking oil. The owner of the expeller collects the residues, which he also sells in Zambia and Malawi for use as animal feed.
