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Zimbabwe’s power cuts cripple business

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BY MARKO PHIRI 

Electricity outages have escalated in Zimbabwe, with the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) citing vandalism of its infrastructure, but experts say power generation is being crippled by a lack of investment in renewable energy. 

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In recent days, power outages have worsened, even before last week’s announcement that the country’s Kariba power station was shutting down because of low dam levels

Load-shedding has seen some parts of the country experiencing 24-hour blackouts, disrupting all economic activity, from heavy industrial sites and central business districts to backyard workshops.

Naboth Zondo, who earns a living at his home as a welder, knows this painfully well. If there is no electricity, he does not eat. 

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“It’s as simple as that,” he says. “What do you do when electricity is restored at one o’clock in the morning and disappears before the sun comes up?” 

He is not alone.

Families still able to stock their fridges complain about food spoiling, worsened by the power utility no longer publishing a fixed schedule of electricity cuts.

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“You cannot plan anything. You watch as food rots. Why bother to complain, and to whom?” asks Wellington Tshuma, as butcheries race to save their businesses.

In Bulawayo’s Kelvin North, light industries, touted by the small enterprises ministry as the answer to the country’s high unemployment levels where skilled and unskilled artisans can be found working as welders and motor mechanics, daily power outages have meant lost incomes.

During electricity blackouts, Ntando Nleya can be found whiling away the boredom playing checkers with his colleagues.“We have to come here every day even if we know there is no guarantee of electricity. It’s better than staying at home and still doing nothing,” he says.

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Backyard electricity consumers are considered small fry as energy-guzzling sectors such as mining and agriculture have taken a huge knock because of power uncertainty.

Early this year, the mining and farming sectors pleaded with the government for them to be exempted from load-shedding, citing loss of working hours and revenue.

A 2019 African Development Bank (AfDB) report said electricity shortages in Zimbabwe remained one of the major structural constraints facing the mining sector, despite its potential to change the country’s economic fortunes.

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“There is undeniable evidence that the development of reliable, adequate, low-priced power can contribute significantly to the efficient and effective functioning of the Zimbabwe economy and the maintenance of Zimbabweans’ standard of living,” the AfDB report said, at a time when numerous studies and reports note that the country’s standard of living has decreasedZesa, a state-owned enterprise, has routinely blamed extended power blackouts on the vandalism of its infrastructure by thieves who steal copper cables and drain transformer oil.

But the Zambezi River Authority, custodians of the source of hydroelectric generating Kariba Dam, this week announced that power production was being suspended because of low water levels at the dam.

The country’s energy ambitions have not been spared by the climate crisis, but analysts say investing in renewable energy could offer relief.

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The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries have

complained about the effect of electricity cuts on production, noting that despite years of lobbying the government to decisively deal with the power crisis, nothing had been done.

The government has touted solar power as the answer to the country’s power deficit, but investment in the capital-intensive sector has been dogged by allegedly corrupt awarding of tenders.In 2015, amid former president Robert Mugabe’s ostensible crackdown on dubious tender-awarding processes, a multimillion-dollar solar plant was earmarked for construction in Gwanda, a small town in the country’s southwest, but years later, nothing has happened, and the winning contractor has been accused of converting the money to finance a lavish lifestyle.

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Under its renewable energy policy, the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) has set out ambitious energy-production targets of up to 1 100 megawatts of renewable energy by 2025.

Zera said this will represent 16.5% of the country’s total energy production, and that is expected to increase to 26.5% by 2030.

By Zera’s projections, the country will have excess electricity production capacity by 2030, which is President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s timeline to have a middle-class economy.

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Amid the country’s ongoing economic hardships and stalled foreign direct investment in the energy sector, critics have expressed doubt that those targets will be realised.

At peak, Zimbabwe’s electricity demand stands at 1 700 megawatts but the country has for years struggled to hit the 1 000MW mark owing to old infrastructure and lack of investment in the sector.

While the country has clinched “mega deals” with countries such as Belarus, Russia and China for renewable energy production, the ongoing energy crisis has cast doubt on the implementation of these projects.

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“Renewable energy production is expensive, and the government should have concentrated on refurbishing existing infrastructure as we suggested years ago,” said Elias Mudzuri, a former energy minister during the country’s government of national unity.

“One wonders if the current energy minister is competent enough to deal with the energy crisis. It is not about whether the government has money or no money for long-term sustainable energy projects. What is important is having a feasible energy blueprint, then everything else will follow,” he said.

Meanwhile, institutions such as hospitals have not been spared the power cuts, highlighting the extent of the crisis. 

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At one time, expecting mothers were being asked to bring candles into delivery rooms, in a country where skilled health personnel are quitting in droves citing poor working conditions.

For now, as the country fumbles in the dark, there is little to show that the energy crisis will be solved anytime soon, with South Africa’s Eskom being pressured by local lobbyists to cut off power to Zimbabwe. 

In 2019, Zesa reported that Zimbabwe was getting 400MW from Eskom, while also importing power from Zambia, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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The country has routinely been threatened with disconnection for failing to pay for the electricity, and last week, Energy Minister Soda Zhemu told journalists that the government did not have the money to import electricity.

Zimbabwe, alongside other countries in the region, has, for years, imported electricity from South Africa, but with the continent’s largest economy facing its own energy crisis marked by rolling electricity blackouts, Zimbabwe could find itself in a cold dark place for much longer. 

Critics have been harsh on how the government has dealt with the energy crisis, and senior Zesa officials have been accused of corruption and bad corporate governance.

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“The failure to address the recurrent problem of power outages, and given the levels of official corruption and lack of corporate conscience by state enterprises and parastatals, there is little doubt that the country is suffering from a moral crisis,” said Gorden Moyo, who served as minister of state enterprises and parastatals under the late Morgan Tsvangirai’s tenure as prime Minister. (Source:Mail&Guardian) 

 

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Jamaica reigns supreme as South Africa and Botswana athletes fall short in dramatic 100m showdown

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BY TIMES LIVE

Jamaica returned to the top of the 100m podium at the world championships in Tokyo on Sunday, but South Africa — even with two dogs in the fight — missed out yet again.

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Gift Leotlela finished fifth in 9.95 sec and veteran Akani Simbine ended seventh in 10.04 while Oblique Seville clocked a 9.77 personal best to become the first Jamaican to win the global 100m crown in 10 years after Usain Bolt at Beijing 2015.

His countryman, Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson, was second in 9.82 and brash American Noah Lyles, the Olympic and defending champion, third in 9.89.

The final featured two Jamaicans, two Americans and two South Africans, but it was the two traditional powerhouses that dominated the podium.

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Looked at another way, the final had four men from the Americas against four Africans, and with Kenny Bednarek ending fourth, it was the men from the Americas who took the first four spots.

Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, the Olympic 200m champion and the 100m silver medallist from Budapest 2023, was disqualified for a false start. Nigerian Kayinsola Ajayi was sixth in 10.00.

Yet, had Leotlela repeated the 9.87 he ran in the heats on Saturday he would have taken third. Still, the 27-year-old, who has struggled with injuries for much of the past four years, can be happy with three consecutive sub-10 runs at the showpiece.

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But Simbine, who took the 60m bronze at the world indoor championships in March, looked as if he had mistimed his season.

He went on the indoor circuit early in the year in a bid to improve his start, which meant sacrificing an important training block that he subsequently switched to June and July.

The 31-year-old was on fire before the break, but since returning he never looked sharp.

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He’s competed in seven major 100m finals — three Olympics and four world championships — and never reached a podium. Having previously finished fourth or fifth, this was also his worst finish in a final.

In the semifinals earlier, just like it happened at the Olympics on the same track four years ago, Simbine had to wait to find out if he had won a spot in the final after finishing third in the first heat in 9.96.

Only the first two of the three heats advanced automatically, with the two fastest losers going through.

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Leotlela ended third in the final semifinal in 9.97.

But still, two South Africans in the final should augur well for the 4x100m relay next weekend.

The only other South African in a medal race on the day, Adriaan Wildschutt, didn’t have the kick at the tail end of a slow 10,000m, crossing the line in 28 min 59.47 sec to finish 10th to match his position at last year’s Paris Olympics.

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Frenchman Jimmy Gressier won a sprint finish in 28:55.77, ahead of Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha (28:55.83) and Andreas Almgren of Sweden (29:56.02).

Earlier, Zakithi Nene, the fastest man over 400m in the world this year with his 43.76 from May, won his heat in 44.34 to advance to Tuesday’s semifinal.

But American Jacory Patterson, No 2 on the list, threw down the gauntlet by jogging over the final metres of his heat to clock the fastest time of the heats, 43.90.

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Khaleb McRae, the second of three American qualifiers, was second quickest in the heats in 44.25.

Then came Nene, and behind him lurk other dangermen, like Botswana’s Bayapo Ndori (44.36) and Rusheen McDonald of Jamaica (44.38), who limped off the track.

Countryman Lythe Pillay delivered a solid performance to advance to the semifinals with a 44.73 season’s best, finishing second in his heat behind Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago, fourth at last year’s Olympics.

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But with the US getting four men into the next round and Botswana and Britain three, the South African 4x400m team will have their work cut out next weekend to make the relay podium.

Miranda Coetzee and Shirley Nekhubui failed to advance beyond the women’s 400m heats and Brian Raats was unable to clear the bar in the qualifying round of the men’s high jump.

SOURCE| TIMES LIVE

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Econet unveils new home and business data packages

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has launched new ‘Smart-Suite’ Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) data packages consisting of six plans tailored to address the data needs of different customers – from the ‘SmartLite’ plan, offering 50GB of data (best for light users) and retailing for $30, to ‘SmartPro’, offering 800GB of data (ideal for established SMEs) and retailing at $170.

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In between are ‘SmartPlus’, offering 75GB at $40 (targeting families); ‘SmartMax’, offering 100GB at $50 (ideal for bigger homes and freelancers); ‘SmartFlex’, offering 200GB at $70 (tailored for flexible scaling and small offices) and ‘SmartUltra’, offering 400GB at $99 (suitable for heavy, multi-users and SMEs).

Introducing the SmartSuite packages on multiple media channels, Econet said the new data packages will be easy to upgrade and will offer flexible plans “that grow with your needs”.

To ensure optimized and stable performance within a customer’s premise and network coverage area, the new packages will be geo-locked to a customer’s location, and accessible using a 4G or 5G CPE (customer premises equipment) router.

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Geo-locking – a term used to describe the restriction of access to a product or service to a specific geographical location – ensures customers get the best possible usage experience while enabling service providers like telcos and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to ringfence critical resources such as bandwidth, making certain they are utilized by the intended users.

Econet said the SmartSuite packages will be available through its Econet Shops across the country where the company enjoys the largest network coverage, adding that CPE routers will also be available for sale in its shops – starting from US$48 per unit. The company noted though that customers will be free to use their existing CPEs, or to purchase CPEs anywhere elsewhere, as long as they were compatible with Econet’s SmartSuite product specifications.

Econet, which is the largest mobile network operator in Zimbabwe, enjoys the widest 4G (LTE) network coverage in the country. With 300 5G base stations deployed in the country’s major cities and towns, it is by far the market leader in 5G technology in Zimbabwe.

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The launch of the new SmartSuite packages follows a notice to customers of the former SmartBiz packages from Econet a month ago, notifying them that it would soon launch new data packages offering more choice and flexibility, and tailored to different customer needs.

Customers registered to the old SmartBiz service and who already have a CPE, can simply dial *143, choose a package of their choice and credit their new SmartSuite package. New subscribers to the SmartSuite packages will however need to buy a new SmartSuite SIM from an Econet Shop, as well as a CPE, for them to be able to connect to the new packages. If they own a CPE that meets Econet’s specifications, they will be able to use it for their SmartSuite package.

Along with the new SmartSuite data packages, Econet continues to offer its all its customers the choice of a wide range of mobile data products, accessible ‘on the go’ throughout the country via the customer’s mobile device or smartphone.

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In the community

Population Services Zimbabwe to offer free family planning services in Nkayi

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 BY WANDILE TSHUMA 

Population Services Zimbabwe (PSZ) is set to provide free family planning services in Nkayi District from next week

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The initiative which will run from 15-18, aims to enhance access to comprehensive reproductive health care and empower individuals and couples to make informed choices regarding family planning.

The outreach will kick off on Monday, September 15, at the Sivalo Rural Health Centre (RHC) and its outreach site. This will be followed by activities at various locations each day:

Tuesday, September 16:
Jabulisa at 9:00 AM
Ngabayide at 2:00 PM
Wednesday, September 17:
Sebhumane at 9:00 AM
Nesigwe RHC at 10:00 AM
Thursday, September 18:
Mateme RHC at 9:00 AM
Sembeule at 10:00 AM

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The services offered during this campaign include:

Loop insertion and removal
Implant insertion and removal
Depo Provera injections
Secure and control pills
Emergency contraceptive pills
Counselling on reproductive health issues

 

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