President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Tuesday announced a fresh sweeping climate package aiming to widen access and use of clean energy by between 80 and 90 percent during the next 10 years.

The new codified state plan includes a 12-months grace period for all institutions providing services to more than 300 people to use clean cooking energy solutions. This would affect hundreds of prisons, schools and colleges which heavily depend on firewood as their main source of energy.

Speaking at the launch of a two-day clean cooking conference in Dar es Salaam tasked the energy minister Mr. Januari Makamba to resolve the matter.

The president went ahead announcing plans to set a strategic task force to review and propose a national strategy on clean energy solutions. The plan she insisted will help Tanzania expands coverage of clean energy by between 80 and 90 percent in the next decade.

“We are here because of charcoal. It has become a problem leading to deforestation in several regions, most of which are sources of fresh water we consume in Dar es Salaam,” she said.

AE News