ABB’s Access to Electricity program, designed to promote sustainable economic, environmental and social development in poor communities, is yielding its first concrete results – in a remote village in southern Tanzania.
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The 1,800-strong village of Ngarambe, on the edge of the Selous National Park, has received electricity under the program. Changes and improvements – in such areas as small businesses, education and health care - are already noticeable.
ABB and WWF, the global conservation organization, have teamed up to ensure the sustainable development of the village. The project is serving as a model for further, larger Access to Electricity projects aimed at easing poverty in other rural or semi-urban parts of Africa and Asia.
Part of UN Global Compact
The Access to Electricity program is ABB’s response to the United Nations Global Compact which urged companies and organizations to provide greater assistance to least developed countries. ABB was one of the first international companies to sign on to the Global Compact after UN secretary general Kofi Annan launched it in 2000.
The program is much more than a rural electrification project. ABB works with other stakeholders – governments, companies, non-governmental organizations, aid agencies, civil society - with each partner bringing its complementary skills to the project. It is not an “outside-in”program – emphasis is placed on working with local authorities to establish villagers’ needs, and ensure that whatever is introduced – such as electricity –is affordable long-term.
In Ngarambe, power from a diesel-fired generator is lighting up the school, dispensary, local government office, mosque, small businesses on the main road and a number of homes. The electricity – which is cheaper the kerosene used until now - is on for four hours a day after dusk.
Improved health care and education
The benefits are tangible: The local school holds classes stay open at night. “They can study more for their exams, and it will be beneficial to society,” says a teacher. The number of pupils has risen from 250 to 350 since the arrival of electricity in mid-2004.
At the dispensary, the doctor can now also treat his patients at night. He is intending to install a refrigerator for medicines. The measures will save some of his patients from the lengthy journey to the nearest hospital 70 kilometeres – or two hours ride – from Ngarambe.
Local stores and a teashop are also feeling the benefit from being able to stay open longer and provide cold drinks.
ABB supplied the generator, installed underground cables and low-voltage equipment, and trained local people to run the power supply. WWF provided guidance on issues ranging from reducing deforestation to health care and environmental education.
Expanding the program
Further steps are planned. Feasibility studies are under way to introduce a windpower installation to replace the generator; to electrify a maize mill and a sawmill; and more homes are being linked to the mini-grid.
ABB and WWF are exploring similar projects in other parts of Tanzania, including nearby villages in the Selous game reserve. And ABB is working with other partners on World Bank-financed projects in Senegal and Uganda.
The Access to Electricity program is a commercial, as well as social venture for ABB. External funding is therefore needed for further projects.
Successful start
“The project in Ngarambe marks a successful, concrete start to ABB’s Access to Electricity program, and we are now seeking to expand it in Tanzania and beyond,” says Christian Kornevall, head of ABB Group Sustainability Affairs. “It is important that stakeholders realize that a large company can be part of a solution to a problem, in this case helping to ease rural poverty.”
"Together with the local community and authorities, WWF's field work in Ngarambe has focussed on developing sustainable solutions to improve people's livelihoods,” says Claude Martin, Director General, WWF International This first step in the cooperation with ABB resulted in a locally adapted solution. We look forward to the next step, with the implementation of a renewable energy solution."