Swedish government pledges to support Zambia’s renewable energy sector

Swedish Ambassador to Zambia, Johan Hallenborg, has pledged his government’s commitment with other strategic partners to support Zambia in the policy development of the renewable energy sector.

Hallenborg said the Swedish Embassy in Zambia is also looking forward to getting a new strategy for its work in Zambia, which will be adopted by his government in the near future.

He said Sweden takes keen interest in the renewable energy sector in Zambia and has been having several discussions with government on the best way forward of developing the sector.

“We support on grid solutions like the A1 projects under the Electricity Access Service Programme in Kalomo District of Southern Province in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and the World Bank,” Hallenborg said.

He said Zambia’s energy sector development is priority number one for the Swedish government as it is part of the bilateral cooperation and an interest to most Swedish energy companies who are already operating in the country.

“We are an important partner of the Beyond the Grid Fund Africa but also an important partner in the Mordern Cooking Facility, these two Funds are important because they promote small businesses to fund small scale renewable energy solutions,” Hallenborg said.

Hallenborg said this in Choma, Southern Province on Wednesday where he together with the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) are inspecting A1 projects under the Electricity Access Service Programme.

Ministry of Energy Permanent Secretary in-charge of Technical Services Himba Cheelo has thanked the Swedish government for its continued support to the sector and looks forward for more cooperation between the two countries.

Cheelo is impressed with the continued support from the Swedish government through several projects which are impacting positively on people’s lives especially those in rural areas.

“Some rural communities are far away from the main grid and one wonders how they can have access to electricity if it’s not through such initiatives being implemented under the A1 projects under the Electricity Access Service Programme,” she said.

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