The government`s rural electrification programme has received a major financial boost from the mining giant, Barrick Gold Tanzania which has injected USD28m into the national project.

The latest move comes in the form of public private partnership (PPP) and would see Barrick Gold Tanzania extending electric poles all the way to the remote Tarime district, Mara region, eventually integrating the area into the national power grid.

The company would collaborate with the government through the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) and an agreement was signed Friday to usher in commencement of the project.

Speaking during the signing ceremony in Dar es Salaam, Minister for Energy and Minerals, Nazir Karamagi, said after completion, the project would supply power at competitive rates to North Mara Gold Mine in particular and to other investment initiatives around the area.

The project is expected to significantly improve the financial health of Tanesco as North Mara Mine becomes an anchor customer who is sure and capable of paying bills appropriately.

The Minister said the electrification of the gold mine would enable Barrick Gold Tanzania to access clean and cheaper energy source and would also save the country millions of dollars spent on importing fuel to generate thermal electricity.

In turn, he said, the foreign exchange thus saved would contribute significantly to improving Tanzania`s balance of payments and to the stability of domestic currency.

He said the fourth phase government is committed to expanding access to electricity to rural and peri-urban areas.

``As you know such projects costs huge monies which the government alone will not be able to execute at the expected rate but with such collaboration of public private partnerships we expect to accelerate our programme``, he said.

The initiative would feed into government`s policy goal of increasing access to electricity to 25 percent of the population by the year 2010. Currently only 10 percent of the country�s populace does have access to electricity and most of it are urban dwellers.

He said with ongoing development in the power sector it is important to ensure that there are sets of common and agreed principles to be followed for the different stakeholders involved in the power sector in order to expand access to electricity.

Minister Karamagi encouraged other investors to emulate the example shown by the gold miner.

The mining sector is the fastest growing one and it challenges the government to seek more investments to generate more electricity, feed it into the grid and enhance access countrywide.

Gareth Taylor, the Executive General Manager for operations for Barrick Gold Tanzania, said the project would bring the infrastructure for provision of power to Tanzanians in the Nyamongo area earlier than may have been planned.

He said project implementation would commence as soon as after completion of the Environmental Social Impact Assessment (ESIA).

This is a statutory requirement by the government which would ensure that electrification of the mine would be conducted in a socially responsible and environmentally friendly manner.

Speaking earlier, the Tarime legislator, Chacha Wangwe, said the project would provide leverage for localized small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in turn boosting incomes of the people in the respective areas.

Under this latest public private partnership scheme, North Mara Mine would be allowed to consumer power freely for a certain period until its costs are recovered, thereupon starting to pay power tariffs at the going market rates.