Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve, [email protected]
THE sustained electricity supply improvement, now exceeding 200 days without load shedding, has significantly boosted operational efficiencies across industry, reducing costs and restoring confidence in the productive sectors.
The stability has lowered operational costs, enhanced production planning, improved plant utilisation and delivery performance, while cutting generator fuel bills, equipment damage, production stoppages and wastage during interrupted manufacturing processes.
Firms have redirected resources previously earmarked for emergency power towards maintenance, technology upgrades, expansion and employment.
Industry leaders have described the development as a critical turning point for the economy.
Government has further acknowledged that reliable and affordable energy remains a critical enabler of industrialisation and economic growth, and says it is now seized with addressing the outstanding challenge of the cost of energy, which has a direct bearing on industrial competitiveness.
Appropriate measures will be taken to ensure energy costs support, rather than constrain, industrialisation and investment ambitions.
The improved supply follows a period of acute shortages exacerbated by severe drought that reduced water levels at Kariba South, compounded by ageing infrastructure and rising demand.
Government responded by bringing Hwange Units 7 and 8 online, adding 600 megawatts to the national grid.
This, alongside private-sector captive power investment, plant rehabilitation, growing solar adoption and Southern African Power Pool imports, has stabilised supply.
Speaking to Zimpapers, Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries chief executive Sekai Kuvarika said the relative stability during the first two quarters positively affected business operations.
“SMEs have reduced dependence on generators, lowered fuel and maintenance costs, extended productive hours and reduced the risk of losing stock, customers and production time.
“Large firms have gained through more predictable electricity, improving production planning, plant utilisation and delivery performance,” she said.
The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Mangaliso Ndlovu commended private-sector investment in captive power generation, reiterating that Government is addressing energy costs.
Energy and Power Development Minister July Moyo said the energy agenda must be understood within the broader industrialisation context, stressing that value addition and beneficiation require reliable energy, and that energy investment and mineral beneficiation are mutually reinforcing components of Vision 2030.
For businesses, the 200-plus days without load shedding give a chance to rebuild, invest and compete.
Sustaining that stability will be key to locking in the gains.
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