Nairobi — Tanzania could easily generate enough power for local consumption as well as export, yet it faces loadshedding every few years, drastically affecting the productivity and economic wellbeing of the country.

Having faced one of the worst episodes of power-rationing in the country's history only three years ago, in 2006, the bureaucrats were expected to have gained the necessary experience to deal with such crises but here we are, still groping in the dark.

Already the country's electricity generation company, Tanesco, has announced the timetable for the rationing, with whole areas expected to stay without power for up to 14 hours.

It is disturbing to note that what was billed as the biggest hydropower project in the country, designed to produce more than 1200 MW of electricity at Stieglers Gorge, has stalled, outlasting three presidents.

This is only one of the several projects around the country that are waiting to be executed.

The government must come up with strategic measures for the short, medium and long term and implement the numerous projects whose groundwork has already been done.