Umeme registers 1.3 million new connections

Mar 25, 2019

Energy losses also reduced from 17.2% to 16.6%.

At least 1.3 million new connections to the power grid have been registered, a 2018 financial report released by Umeme Ltd, indicates.

According to the report, the 1.3m increase in the number of new connections represents a growth of 14.8%.

Energy losses, the report notes, have also reduced from 17.2% to 16.6%.

"Customers connected to the grid, within the Umeme footprint, increased by 14.8% to 1.3 million compared to 2017. Over the 7 year period to 2018, Umeme exceeded the regulatory customer base target by 0.3 million customers (30%). We acknowledge the need to accelerate the connections rate under the Government's Electricity Connections Policy to achieve the National Development Plans," the directors of Umeme noted in their report.

The report also notes that the shareholders will be paid sh28.2 per share, an increase from the sh7.6 per share payment in 2017.

About 75% of Uganda's population is not connected to the national power grid, a move that calls for increased power generation and transmission capacity.

Last year in February, Cabinet approved a free-connection policy to increase the number of Ugandans on the national power grid.

President Yoweri Museveni recently commissioned the 183MW Isimba Dam, bringing the national electricity generation to 1,167MW from the current 984MW.

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