Power deal tainted by graft

The 1995 power purchasing agreement between Tanesco and IPTL in Tanzania is cited as a failed public-private partnership due to alleged corruption, lack of feasibility studies, and the procurement of unnecessary diesel-generated power at inflated costs.

• The 1995 agreement between Tanesco and Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) for 100MW of diesel-generated power was criticized from its inception regarding its cost, technology choice, and projected demand.
• The deal resulted in significant financial losses for Tanesco, which paid $40 million in capacity payments in 2002 despite the plant functioning at less than 10% capacity. The electricity cost 12 US cents per unit, compared to Tanesco's own supply of seven to nine US cents per unit, plus $3 million in monthly statutory costs.
• The failure of the partnership is attributed to the absence of a proper feasibility study, lack of stakeholder consultation, and alleged corrupt payments to government officials. The document notes that Tanesco's primary issue was a lack of gridlines rather than insufficient generating capacity.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2008). Power deal tainted by graft. https://saiia.org.za/news/case-study-power-deal-tainted-by-graft/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Power deal tainted by graft. 2008. https://saiia.org.za/news/case-study-power-deal-tainted-by-graft/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Power deal tainted by graft |date=24 April 2008 |url=https://saiia.org.za/news/case-study-power-deal-tainted-by-graft/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2008power, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Power deal tainted by graft}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2008}, month = apr, url = {https://saiia.org.za/news/case-study-power-deal-tainted-by-graft/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }