Empowering people and spurring economic growth in rural Tanzania

With little national grid connectivity and rain-dependent hydroelectric power sources, the Mtwara and Lindi regions of southern Tanzania often face power blackouts and brownouts. Artumas Group set out on the mission to boost the power accessibility for residents. Given the limited electric power generation and distribution infrastructure, Artumas Group designed a comprehensive gas-to-power project. It involved the construction of 27 km of marine and terrestrial pipelines. With Mantrac as a partner, the power project came online with six Cat G3520C gas generators in 2007.

This system was linked to the existing power distribution infrastructure, management of which transferred from Tanzania Electric Supply Company Ltd. to the Artumas Group. This gave the company the recognition as Tanzania's first privately supplied electric power franchise. Small shops and retailers started operations and began setting up and making profits. "Ice cream, which was never heard of in the region, is now booming," said Peter Gathercole, Director of Business Development for Artumas. In 2013, three more Cat G3520C gensets were added to keep up with the domino effect of power demands. In 2020, two more Cat G260-16s of 4.3 MW each were ordered, which Mantrac expects to deliver by the end of 2020.