Vision 2030 efforts hampered by the electricity crisis

The escalating electricity crisis has once again brought to light ZESA’s inadequate planning and resource allocation priorities.

The unprecedented electricity crisis that consumers are facing, which can endure for up to 16 hours every day, is threatening the survival of the industry and undermining attempts to realize the government’s Vision 2030 goal of turning the nation into a middle-income nation.

A few weeks ago, power company ZESA began implementing rolling power cuts as a result of low generation capacity at its Kariba and Hwange power plants.

It also comes after ZESA removed Hwange Unit 7, which was synchronized in March 2023, from the grid in order to perform maintenance.  Another factor preventing the Kariba South Hydroelectric Power Station from running at maximum capacity is the low water available for power generation.

Since the smaller thermal power plants in Bulawayo, Munyati, and Harare haven’t produced any electricity in months, the situation has gotten worse.

Edgar Moyo, the minister of energy and power development, was questioned extensively in parliament yesterday regarding the escalating electricity crisis, but he was unable to offer a solution, claiming that the government was unable to predict when the crisis would end.

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