Reforms working as Tanesco nets Sh2.3 trillion income

 

By Josephine Christopher

Josephine Christopher is a business reporter for The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers.

Mwananchi Communications Limitted

Summary

·         With the rise in income, Tanesco’s net profit, which rose from Sh45.246 billion in 2019/20 to Sh77.144 billion in the 2020/21 financial year, jumped to a record Sh109.454 billion during the 2021/22 financial year.

Dar es Salaam. The ongoing reforms at the state-owned enterprise Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (Tanesco) are bearing fruit, with the power utility firm reporting a record income of Sh2.28 trillion during the financial year 2021/22.

This was the highest income to have been attained by the power utility firm in Tanzania’s history.

This was a growth of about one percent from the Sh2.26 trillion that was registered during the preceding financial year, Tanesco says in its latest 2021/22 annual report.

With the rise in income, Tanesco’s net profit, which rose from Sh45.246 billion in 2019/20 to Sh77.144 billion in the 2020/21 financial year, jumped to a record Sh109.454 billion during the 2021/22 financial year.

“In year 2021/22, we have delivered record-breaking results in most of our key results areas on our interim corporate strategy. The company has recorded a Sh109 billion profit, which is also unprecedented. This is on the back of 504,000 connected households during the year, which is the highest number of customers ever connected,” Tanesco’s managing director, Mr Maharage Chande, says in the report.

To further bolster its efforts, he said, Tanesco, which saw its assets rise from Sh17.295 trillion during the 2020/21 financial year to Sh19.573 trillion during the 2021/22 financial year, is proactively preparing a 10-year strategic plan.

Mr Chande said yesterday that the plan was in recognition of the fact that resolving power utility challenges requires long-term vision and execution, hence the need to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive roadmap to steer its growth and development.

He said by the end of the 2021/2022 financial year, there would be a total of 3.788 million customers who were connected to Tanesco’s power and accessibility, which stood at 78.4 percent.

Tanesco board chairman Mr Omari Issa stated that the year 2021/22 was a historic period for bringing about significant changes within the organisation, including capacity building for employees to enhance efficiency.

He said the board assessed Tanesco’s state of affairs and identified the need for additional human resources.

As a result, they decided to provide training opportunities for Tanesco employees to gain expertise abroad.

Looking forward, he said that with preparations for the 10-year Corporate Strategy in full gear, he was positive that the document will provide relevant perspectives on short, medium and long-term plans.

The strategic plan, he said, will restructure and improve the model in which Tanesco conducts its business through its defined core values.

“In our corporate strategic plan, we are keen on investing and developing key projects to increase generation capacity in line with the National Development Plan (FY2021/22-FY2025/26),” he said. Besides, the construction of power transmission projects will stabilise the grid, while power distribution projects will in turn connect more customers and increase revenues.

“Funds for these projects have already been secured, and relevant plans and strategies to pursue other opportunities are in place,” he said.