Online Reporter
Oliver Kazunga
Senior Reporter
OVER 11 000 rural institutions across Zimbabwe have been electrified under the national Rural Electrification Programme, marking one of the country’s largest infrastructure rollouts and a significant step towards Vision 2030.
The programme, implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), is transforming rural economies by extending electricity to schools, health centres, farms, business hubs and households, in line with Government’s development agenda of ensuring that no community is left behind.
The initiative is financed through the Rural Electrification Fund, established in 2002 as a statutory mechanism to expand electricity access in rural areas through levies collected from consumers connected to the national grid.
Under the rural electrification programme, REA constructs conventional grid infrastructure before handing it over to the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company for operation and maintenance, while the agency retains responsibility for managing and maintaining renewable energy projects like solar.
According to statistics availed by REA, as at May 4, 2026, progress had been made in connecting key social and economic centres, with schools, clinics, farms and business hubs now powering rural productivity and enterprise growth.
Spokesperson Mr Johannes Nyamayedenga told this publication that in line with the aspirations of NDS2, which is driving the country towards Vision 2030, REA was on course to complete the electrification of all rural health centres and schools by the end of the year.
“Under Vision 2030, we are operating in line with NDS2, where we are saying by the end of this year, we will be done with all rural health centres and schools.
“From there, starting next year, we move to the rest of the country, targeting other institutions which are not yet electrified — looking at all business centres, village homesteads and any other place where electricity is needed to electrify all of them by the end of 2030.
“Then we will be talking of development as a nation because everyone else in the country will be connected to the national grid or solar systems or have biogas digesters,” he said.
Of the 11 365 rural institutions electrified so far, Manicaland Province leads the electrification drive with 2 104 institutions connected, followed by Mashonaland East (1 596) and Masvingo (1 562), highlighting the scale of infrastructure rollout across provinces.
At the heart of the rural electrification programme is a strong push to modernise education and healthcare delivery.
A total of 3 244 primary schools, 1 614 secondary schools and 1 084 rural health centres and clinics have now been electrified, improving learning conditions and enabling critical health services such as vaccine storage and emergency care.
The electrification programme is also unlocking economic opportunities, with 1 395 small-scale farms and 21 business centres now powered, supporting agro-processing, irrigation and rural industrialisation.
Mr Nyamayedenga said in a major rural transformation indicator, 886 villages — representing an estimated over 13 000 homesteads — have been connected, bringing electricity closer to households and stimulating micro-enterprises.
