A high-voltage electricity interconnector linking Zambia and Tanzania is scheduled to enter operation in 2029, connecting two of Africa's major regional power pools and enabling cross-border electricity trade of up to 500 megawatts. The project will physically bridge the Southern African Power Pool and the Eastern Africa Power Pool, creating a transmission corridor that spans the border between the two countries.
The interconnector represents a significant piece of regional energy infrastructure, as the two power pools have historically operated as separate systems with limited ability to share generation capacity. By joining them through a single high-voltage line, Zambia would gain both an export route for surplus power during periods of high generation and an import option during shortfalls — a flexibility that carries particular weight given Zambia's recurring vulnerability to hydropower deficits driven by drought cycles on the Zambezi and Kafue river systems.
Zambia's power sector has faced sustained pressure in recent years, with load-shedding affecting households and industry as reservoir levels at key hydropower stations have dropped below operational thresholds. The ability to trade up to 500 MW across the Tanzania interconnector could provide a material buffer, reducing dependence on any single generation source and improving system resilience. For Tanzania, connection to the Southern African Power Pool opens a comparable set of trading options with a larger and more established regional electricity market.
The 2029 target places the project within a broader wave of cross-border transmission investment across sub-Saharan Africa, where power pool integration has become a central pillar of energy planning. Multilateral development finance institutions have consistently backed such interconnectors as instruments for improving energy access and regional economic integration. No financing details, contractor awards, or construction timelines for individual project phases were specified in available reporting.
The line's route and the specific voltage level of the interconnector were not disclosed in current reporting. Progress toward the 2029 operational date will depend on land access agreements, environmental permitting, procurement, and the mobilisation of construction resources across two national jurisdictions — a process that has historically introduced delays in comparable regional transmission projects.