Chronicle Editor
Prosper Ndlovu, Feature
THE year 2019 has not been a good one for Southern Africa in terms of power generation as deficits in supply persisted across member states with severe consequences on economies and ordinary people’s livelihoods.
Most countries within Sadc, except Mozambique, which is producing a surplus, are still struggling to meet their installed power generation capacities.
Statistics from the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), indicate that by midyear 2019, Angola, for instance, was producing 2 500MW of electricity against 3 129MW capacity while Botswana stood at 459MW compared to 927MW installed capacity. The DRC was producing 1 076 MW yet installed generation capacity stood at 2 457MW while Eswatini was generating 55MW against installed generation capacity of 70MW. Similarly, Lesotho was generating 70MW against installed 74MW capacity with Malawi making it at 270MW against the 447MW installed capacity. Namibia was operating at 354MW failing to meet the installed generation capacity of 749MW while South Africa was producing 46 461MW against its 52 096MW installed generation capacity and Tanzania was producing 1 221MW against the 1 461MW installed capacity.
This reduced generation capacity is working against the Sadc Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2015-2063). In Zimbabwe reduced power supplies have forced the power utility, Zesa, to implement a tight load shedding regime that has seen some places going for up to 18 hours without electricity. This has adversely affected businesses and household consumers.
Bulawayo Chamber of SMEs chairperson, Mr Energy Majazi, said power cuts are now threatening livelihoods of ordinary people as production has been reduced drastically.
“We have been hit hard. This is where we get our day to day fares for transport and fees for our children.
“We are living from hand to mouth and we are now like dogs that eat once a day in the evening. The situation is critical because of these power cuts,” he said.
Mr Majazi said entrepreneurs in the manufacturing sector, particularly those in the furniture and clothing sectors, were the worst affected as they used electric machines.
Large scale businesses have been affected too with escalating costs arising from use of alternative power sources like generators.
These, among other macro-economic factors, have been cited for the projected minus six percent economic contraction by end of 2019, with industry capacity utilisation seen dropping to about 30 percent this year from 48 percent in 2018, according to the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries.
The same is being experienced in South Africa, Sadc’s most industrialised member where Bloomberg reported that power outages have disrupted businesses, particularly small- and medium-sized firms that cannot rely on backup power generators.
The power generation challenges in SA affect neighbours such as Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe who often turn to Pretoria for power imports.
Daily power cuts have also become a norm in Zambia and this is affecting households, farmers, small businesses and big industries including established mines. Power rationing, unannounced power cuts and fuel shortages have had a huge impact on Zambia’s economy, with both domestic and commercial customers struggling to get used to the new order, local media reports show.
Zimbabwe and Zambia rely heavily on hydro power from Kariba Dam which has been drastically reduced due to low water levels this year. The thermal option has also been weakened by low investment in new projects as existing plants constantly break down due to obsolete equipment.
At the 39th Summit of Heads of State and Government in Tanzania in August, leaders expressed great concern at the slow growth in the intra-Sadc trade levels as the region continues to export unprocessed raw material to the rest of the world, thereby forfeiting the potential benefits of the resource endowments.
The reality is that inefficient energy supply is one of the biggest barriers to the development of a diversified, innovative and globally competitive industrial base.
The prevailing situation demands increased collaboration in boosting power generation capacity within Sadc and enhancing improved access. The founder and executive chairman of the African Energy Chamber, NJ Ayuk, in his book, Billions at Play: The Future of African Energy and Doing Deals, to be published this month, points out that the energy sector, in particular, holds greater potential towards revitalising and empowering formidable industrial development across Africa, Sadc included.
Sustainable energy solutions are, thus, essential if Southern Africa is to achieve its aspirations and there is a huge scope in this regard given the region’s rich energy resource base that ranges from thermal to solar, hydro, wind and gas.
Sadc executive secretary, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, in the recently released Sadc Energy Monitor 2018 report, admits that the region’s potential has not been fully harnessed.
“Most Sadc states have harnessed only a small fraction of their hydropower resources — less than three percent of the total potential in the region has been harnessed.
“The low share of natural gas in the regional energy mix also belies the fact that Southern Africa has some of the largest deposits of gas in the world. This calls for improved cooperation between and among Sadc member states to ensure that access and availability to energy is prioritised to allow the region to realise its vision of a united, prosperous and integrated community,” she said.
Inadequate transmission infrastructure has also meant that members cannot benefit from new generation capacity installed in other countries in the region. For instance, the power infrastructure in mainland Sadc is not fully integrated yet as Angola, Malawi and Tanzania are not connected to the regional electricity pool, says the report. Moreover, most state-run power utilities in the region are so saddled by debt and struggle to recover their operating and capital costs not to mention investment into requisite infrastructure needed to bring electricity to the region.
SAPP coordination centre manager, Mr Stephen Dihwa, has concurred saying power generation in the region is down to a greater extent.
He said countries like South Africa are no longer able to produce and trade surplus electricity on the regional market.
“Analysing the power structure within the region shows that it has become a big problem to generate adequate electricity for each country,” said Mr Dihwa.
Former Group Five Limited interim chief executive officer and experienced energy expert, Dr Thabo Kgogo, also asserts that African economies will never achieve full potential if they cannot power their industries, households and other power consumers.
Rockefeller Foundation president, Dr Rajiv J Shah drives this point so well in relation to poverty alleviation: “We can’t end poverty if we don’t end energy poverty”.
In the context of Sadc’s industrialisation agenda, this suggests that it will be hard for the region to entice desired investment without an formidable grid.
Improved access to electricity, thus, ties closely with the United Nation’s sustainable development goals, mainly goal number seven, which seeks to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030.
The Sadc regional industrialisation agenda adopted in 2015 represents a giant step towards economic liberation in the region and this has to be supported by improved power generation.
Through it, member states seek to maximise on direct and indirect value addition opportunities and harnessing the full potential of their vast and diverse natural resources within the context of deepening regional integration.
This dream has to be buttressed by adequate energy and power development, a thrust that requires Sadc member states to aggressively deal with the inherent inefficiencies in electricity generation and supply, which are costing the region’s GDP growth.
Online Reporter