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                                                                                                                April 16, 2012

Beaming Light on Tajikistan's Roof of the World
Dilya Zoirova, Communications Associate in the World Bank
Tajikistan Office, offers this story.
                                                                     Photo Gallery
The Pamir Mountains, stretching through Tajikistan and
Afghanistan, are amongst the highest in the world. Known
since Victorian times as the Roof of the World, residents now
say the remote area is a beam of light on the roof of the
world, thanks to a renovated electricity grid.

Even at the height of bitter winters in this area cut off from the
country's main grid, houses, schools and businesses have
heat and light. Investments in once crumbling power lines are
ensuring electricity around the clock and around the year.           Related Links
That wasn't the case in the period following independence,
and the country's five year civil war, when people, the              The World Bank in Tajikistan
economy and the environment suffered. Before Pamir-1                 Pamir Private Power Project Profile
Hydropower Plant and its grid were repaired and parts of it          Program Snapshot
replaced, schools, clinics and small businesses often closed
                                                                     Aga Khan Development Network project
in winter because it was too cold to stay open. This inevitably
                                                                     brief
undermined economic development and affected wages,
health and education in this region, known as Gorno-                 Swiss Agency for Development and
Badakhshan.                                                          Cooperation (SDC) project profile

That changed when a public-private partnership between the Government of Tajikistan, the Aga Khan
Fund for Economic Development and the World Bank Group put in place a new Pamir Energy Company
that operates a renovated power plant providing reliable electricity on a renovated grid. Under a twenty-
five year concession agreement, the partners financed operation and management of a system for
electricity production, transmission and distribution. The total project cost was $27.5 million, about half
of which the IFC and AKFED invested in equity of the operating company. The other half went towards
improving and modernizing the grid.

In addition to this investment, the Swiss Government funded subsidies for the poorest households to
meet rising electricity tariffs. As a result, people no longer need to cut down trees for fuel to cook, so
hillsides are not being deforested. And they don't get sick from breathing fumes.

                         "Electricity is the only source of energy and all cooking and domestic chores are
                         done with the use of electricity now," says Roziyamo Siddiqova, resident of
                         Dashti Luch village in Badakhshan. "We used to have problems with the
                         electricity supply a few years ago, and wood too, was a rare commodity in our
                         place. It was a strain on us and our children. Uninterrupted power supply these
                         days makes life much easier in our village."

                           While consumers and businesses in the Tajik Pamir have an almost
Roziyamo Siddiqova         uninterrupted power supply, Pamir Energy is producing enough to export its
                           excess to northern Afghanistan. For the first time, several Afghan villages in the
Pamirs now have electricity, allowing schools to stay open and hospitals to use technology. Connecting
them to Pamir Energy's grid was made possible with financial support of USAID and the Aga Khan
Development Network through its company Roshan, a mobile phone provider in Afghanistan. Additional
support from the Government of Norway has enabled Pamir Energy to connect 12 more villages, and as
a result electricity is now being supplied to thousands of households in the Shugnan district of
Afghanistan.

This project to provide residents and businesses in the Pamirs with reliable electricity is a vivid example
of how public-private partnerships can effectively work to resolve important developmental challenges.
Strong leadership from company management and concerted donor actions and contributions were key.
Donors admit that turning a previously subsidized utility into a sustainable commercial entity was a
challenge, but the hard work put into this venture paid off significantly. Pamir Energy Company currently
provides the best and most reliable power supply services in Tajikistan, with steady reduction of losses
and increased collection of electricity payments.

Whether operating a small business in Pamir's main city, Khorog, or cooking with electricity in a remote
village, many Pamir Energy consumers say access to reliable electricity has revolutionized their lives.
No doubt, the renovated grid opens new opportunities for people and businesses to develop further in
Tajikistan's Pamir region as well as in neighboring Afghan villages.