new edUcation systeM for Electric access developMEnt in tanzania

ongoing

The aim of UMEME capacity building project is to enhance the university education system for Tanzanian electrical/energy engineers, to enable universal access to electricity and energy transition in Tanzania, within the framework of the UN-SDGs. Tanzania has a population of 60 million, expected to double up by 2040, and 1 million young people entering the job market every year, of which 3% university graduates, to be compared to about 50,000 new jobs created every year. Green deal and electrification are crucial to address this issue. Only 37% of the population has access to electricity, while the renewable energy potential is huge and could dramatically accelerate Tanzanian energy transition to a renewable electrical system, carbon neutral and accessible to all the population. A major obstacle to such goals is a lack of skilled electrical/energy engineers. It is estimated that the number of engineers should at least double-up and a huge gap of skills required by the energy job market should be bridged. The UMEME project aims to increase the quality of electrical engineering education, through: deeply modernizing the curricula, making them less theoretical and more practical, energy-transition-oriented, based on SDGs, integrated by soft-skills and interdisciplinary elements, strongly addressed by stakeholders, capable of responding to the needs of the labor market; b) creating 6 new innovative laboratories (3 for power system modelling, 1 wind+solar+storage, 1 electrical vehicles, 1 EV re-charging); c) innovating teaching methodologies; d) training academic staffs adequately, also through mobility. The partnership involves 5 major universities, the Tanzanian national electrical system owner/operator, the Tanzanian Engineers Registration Board and 2 innovative SMEs operating in Tanzania. The partnership is supported pro bono by international scientific, industrial and NGO organizations, (i.e. CIGRE, Magaldi group, F.Iliceto association).