Zambia and Tanzania and agreed for the development of a new pipeline to supplement the existing pipeline, a senior government official said on Thursday.
Emeldah Shonga, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy, said the two governments, who co-own Tazama Pipeline Limited, on a 66.7 percent and 33.3 percent shareholding structure, have in principle agreed for the development of the new pipeline under the wayleave of the existing pipeline.
She said the new pipeline, to be constructed at cost of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, would provide additional supply of products to meet the projected demand of petroleum products of 4 million tons by 2040.
The official, who was speaking when the board paid the company’s first-ever dividends in 50 years to the two governments, said the construction of the new pipeline was part of modernization plans to improve efficiency and effectiveness and make the firm more viable.
Other plans include upgrading of 914 kilometer stretch of the pipeline from eight to 12 inches at an estimated cost of 35 million dollars and installation of optic fiber communication facilities to facilitate intelligent operations.
“This presents an exciting time for the company. A lot of work has already been done to strengthen the existing infrastructure for improved performance and growth in revenue” she said.
According to her, the declaration of dividends for the first time reflects a healthy business and non-recurrence of losses from 2016, adding that it also marks the transformation of the firm’s business model from service provision only to profit making.
The company declared 9 million Zambian Kwacha (about 900,000 U.S. dollars) as dividend to be shared by the two countries.
The pipeline, which runs from the Single Point Mooring terminal at the outer anchorage in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, to the Tanzanian and Italian Refinery Company refinery in Dar-es-Salaam and the Indeni Refinery in Ndola, Zambia, was commissioned in 1968. Enditem
