Tanzania's President John Magufuli plans to speed up the building of a hydroelectric dam in one of Africa's largest game reserves, despite criticism from environmentalists and Unesco, News24 reports.
The long-planned dam in the Selous Game Reserve, already listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site in danger, could provide 2 100 megawatts of power to a country where only two percent of rural people and 39% of those in cities have access to electricity.
Magufuli has called for the dam to be built as quickly as possible.
Unesco has repeatedly called for the project to be abandoned, saying it was incompatible with World Heritage status.
Poaching, lack of funding and mining are other threats to the reserve, which covers 50 000 sq km and is home to large concentrations of elephant, Black rhino and other species.
