In an effort to promote economic growth and reduce poverty in Tanzania, the Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC) funded an energy project that encompassed a number of
activities, including one to increase the supply of reliable and high quality electricity service on
Unguja, Zanzibar’s largest island (Figure I.1). The Zanzibar archipelago has suffered two major
blackouts since 2008, the most severe of which lasted three months, between December 2009
and March 2010. A key component of the MCC project activity in Zanzibar was the installation
of a new submarine cable (the Zanzibar interconnector activity or “cable activity”). MCC,
through the Millennium Challenge Account-Tanzania (MCA-T), funded a new 100 megawatt
(MW) submarine cable to supplement an older 45 MW cable that was reaching its limits in terms
of both capacity and lifespan.