Mini grids, the frontier to have power for all April 7, 2021 Written by John Vianney Nsimbe Early last month, Mary Goretti Kitutu, the minister of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD), said the government’s target is to increase new electricity connections on the main grid from 70,000 new customers every year to at least 200,000. This followed widespread public complaints about the failure to secure a new power connection from Umeme for the large part of last year. This created a huge backlog, as the number of people needing to be connected to the main grid grew exponentially. However, to ensure that there is more electrification, especially in the rural areas, the immediate solution appears to be in promoting the expansion of mini-grids, which are commonly private-sector-driven. Yet, the underlying question about mini-grids is whether they are economically viable for investment.