Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve, [email protected]
OLD Mutual Zimbabwe has partnered with Government and United Nations agencies to establish a renewable energy fund exceeding US$20 million.
The first projects are already underway, according to group chief executive officer, Mr Samuel Matsekete.
The fund represents a significant public-private partnership that has already begun financing clean energy initiatives, including a women-led solar project that is delivering power to communities while providing social dividends to residents.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing SADC Sustainable Energy Week in Victoria Falls, Mr Matsekete commended Government’s progressive policy reforms that have created an enabling environment for private sector investment in renewable energy.
“We are here at the SADC Renewable Energy Week, and we have had interactions, very, very useful interactions, and I must congratulate the Government of Zimbabwe, the minister, for successfully hosting this event,” said Mr Matsekete.
He highlighted that policy developments have been crucial in attracting private capital into the sector.
“Part of the issues that we have seen in the discussions related to policy, we have to appreciate that there has been significant development in terms of policies that are designed to support private investment into renewable energy.
“We have seen Governments come through and support minimum tariffs, and they have also played a role to ensure that the multi-currency regime offers sustainable energy,” he said.
“Those tariffs make sense for private sector capital to invest in, given the multi-currency regime that we operate.”
The Old Mutual CEO also acknowledged support from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in facilitating foreign investment into the sector.
“We have seen support from the Reserve Bank in terms of how foreign investors into renewable energy projects are prioritised in terms of how they can access currency.
“All of this has meant that we have been able to scale up investment into the renewable energy sector as private sector players, gradually and progressively,” he said.
Mr Matsekete further explained the structure of the renewable energy fund.
“This is a public-private partnership. You will see that we have got Government involved in the fund, which we really value and cherish, because it means that we have a platform around, which we can discuss some of the elements that we need from policy-making and regulations,” he said.
“We have the UN agencies involved, and they are promoters of the project. This is the development fund from the UN. They have committed, so far, US$10 million into the project, where we have also said we would match that level of investment. That’s what we have done,” he said.
Mr Matsekete confirmed that projects are already benefitting from the fund.
“We have started to do drawdowns for about half of that. Two examples: we have invested in a solar project. This is a women-led project. We really like it because this is a group of women who came up and said we want to go into the production of renewable energy.
“It’s a project that has environmental and social impacts that extend to the community. The community there has access through dividends to the project. So, we like the way that it becomes a project that supports sustainability in the broader sense,” he said.
Mr Matsekete said the SADC Sustainable Energy Week has opened doors for further collaboration.
“This engagement has actually opened eyes to other ways that we can partner, for example, with Southern African Power Pool, who are themselves able to access markets that are more secure,” he said.
Cumulatively, Old Mutual has already invested in projects delivering just under 50 megawatts to the national grid, comprising approximately seven megawatts from hydro and the balance from solar.
Mr Matsekete also expressed optimism about future growth, noting that with the renewable energy fund unlocking additional finance, the company envisions delivering projects at a faster pace going forward.
