El Gazzar follows up with the Tanzanian Minister of Energy on the work progress of "Julius Nyerere" Hydropower Plant and Dam.
Dr. Assem El Gazzar - Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, met with Mr. January Makamba - Tanzanian Minister of Energy, to convey a message from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi – President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, to Dr. Samia Hassan - President of the United Republic of Tanzania, and to follow up on the work progress of Julius Nyerere Dam and Hydropower Plant project on Rufiji River in Tanzania. This was during the minister's visit to Tanzania, accompanied by officials of the Egyptian JV of the "Arab Contractors" and "Elsewedy Electric" companies, which implemented the project, Eng. Ahmed El Assar, and Eng. Ahmed El Sewedy.
Dr. Assem El Gazzar explained that since assuming the position of Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, one of the first assignments of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi was to follow up the implementation of Julius Nyerere hydropower plant and dam, whose implementation was assigned to the Egyptian JV of the "Arab Contractors" and "Elsewedy Electric", and the emphasis on the necessity of continuing hard work to complete the implementation of the project, with the highest level of quality, and this was achieved through continuous follow-up of the work of the JV in this huge project, and coordination with our brothers in Tanzania to achieve this desired dream, and solve any challenges and overcomes obstacles, to resume work progress, at the maximum implementation rates according to the available conditions, and to exploit the ability, capabilities and experience of the Egyptian JV, as a result of their implementation of many major projects at the international level, especially in Africa.
The Minister of Housing pointed out that the project consists of a main dam with a total length of 1025m at crest level and 131m height, 7 water outlets, and a capacity to impound approximately 34 billion m3 of water. Besides, the construction of a hydropower plant with a capacity of 2115mw. The plant is located on Rufiji River in Selous Game Reserve at Morogoro, south-west of Dar es Salaam (the largest city and commercial capital of Tanzania). The impounding and first fill of Julius Nyerere Dam and Hydropower Plant took place in December 2022, during a great celebration.
It is noteworthy that the Egyptian JV (the Arab Contractors Company and Elsewedy Electric Company) signed the contract in December 2018 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It was in the presence of the former Tanzanian President and Dr. Moustafa Madbouli, the Egyptian Prime Minister. The contract value is $2.9 billion. The project objectives are to generate 6307 MW/hour annually for the consumption of 17 million Tanzanian families. In addition to these, the dam is controlling the flood to protect the environment from the risks of floods and swamps, storing about 34 billion m3 of water in a new lake to ensure permanent water availability throughout the year for agriculture, and preserving the surrounding wildlife in one of the largest forests in Africa and the whole world.