Tanzania’s state utility TANESCO plans to connect Rukwa region to the national grid by 5 December through the Tanzania–Zambia (TAZA) 400-kilovolt line. The project is 95% complete, and sections towards Sumbawanga are due to be energised in the last week of November, project officials said on 12 and 13 November. The line of about 620 km runs from Iringa through Mbeya and Tunduma to Sumbawanga, with an interconnector from Tunduma to Zambia; tower construction began in November 2023. The connection ends Rukwa’s reliance on electricity imported from Zambia, and the finished Tanzanian section prepares the ground for cross-border power trade.