Crippling power cuts, a threat to economic revival
Power outages are a major threat to Zimbabwe’s economic revival.
To prevent a crisis that might devastate the economy, we implore President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration to move quickly on the measures it authorized this week.
It comes as business including mining companies are enduring prolonged load-shedding daily and other issues that put their ability to continue operations in jeopardy.
Miners are suffering as a result of the rolling blackouts, which have compelled mining businesses to use costly backup diesel generators, increasing production costs.
Mining executives stated that the mining industry’s sustainability is at risk due to the power outages.
At peak hours, the country’s electricity demand is 1,700 megawatts (MW), but State-owned power utility ZESA’s daily output is around 1,200 MW, resulting in a shortage of electricity of almost 500MW.
To cover for the shortfall, ZESA is importing electricity from regional power utilities.
However, the state-owned power utility isn’t getting enough imports since it entered into non-firm contracts with regional power utilities, meaning they only supply Zimbabwe with electricity when they have excess.
