Malawi has secured $2.15 million in funding to advance the Tanzania-Malawi (TAMA) Electricity Interconnector Project, aimed at strengthening regional power integration and improving supply reliability.

The funding, provided by the Multilateral Cooperation Centre for Development Finance, will support updated feasibility and environmental and social impact assessments (ESIA) for a proposed 400-kilovolt transmission line linking Iganjo Substation in Tanzania to Nkhoma Substation in Lilongwe.

The grant application was submitted jointly by the two governments through the African Development Bank (AfDB), which has since congratulated the national power utilities — ESCOM in Malawi and TANESCO in Tanzania — for their collaboration on the successful proposal.

The studies, expected to begin in February 2026 and take one year to complete, will update earlier assessments conducted by ESCOM in 2008 and TANESCO in 2022. Procurement of a consulting firm is already underway, according to ESCOM officials.

The project reflects a growing spirit of collaboration between the two neighbors. Earlier this month, the two governments resolved a short-lived trade standoff over agricultural exports and agreed to finalize a Simplified Trade Regime Agreement under the AfCFTA. They also signed a broadband cooperation deal to improve digital connectivity and reduce data costs for Malawi by linking to Tanzania’s ICT backbone.

The TAMA project follows the near completion of the Malawi–Mozambique (MOMA) Interconnector, which is scheduled to begin operations later this year and supply 50 megawatts of electricity.