When President Samia Suluhu Hassan switched on the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project in Rufiji last weekend, most coverage fixed on the obvious number: 2,115 megawatts, nine turbines inside a dam wall over a kilometre long, a Sh7.45 trillion price tag, roughly $2.9 billion, funded entirely from the government's own domestic budget rather than a foreign loan.
That matters, but it is not the number that should shape a Tanzanian investment decision. The number that matters is smaller, and far less flattering for a press release: which substation, on which line, is your project actually connected to.
Start with the financing, because it deserves the credit it is getting. The Sh7.11 trillion paid to contractors came from treasury allocations, not a loan or a multilateral facility with conditions attached.
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