Online Reporter
Judith Phiri,Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE has called for the urgent need to ramp up investments in new energy projects and enhance transmission efficiencies to support regional industrialisation efforts.
Energy plays a pivotal role in industrialisation, driving machinery, processes, and transportation that are vital for economic growth and development.
Access to affordable and reliable energy sources is essential for boosting industrial productivity and competitiveness, as well as facilitating economic diversification and creating job opportunities.
Speaking on Strategies for Sustainable Transformation: Collaborating to Utilise Natural Resources Towards an Integrated and Industrialised Region at the 11th edition of the Mozambique Mining and Energy Conference and Exhibition (MMEC) which was help in Maputo, Minister of Energy and Power Development, July Moyo said the
SADC region faces a persistent and significant energy supply challenge.
“This is marked by widespread electricity shortages, particularly in rural areas. There is low access to electricity; only about 32 percent of rural areas in the region have access to electricity, with SADC falling behind other African regions in this regard,” he said.
“There is dependence on coal, approximately 74 percent of SADC’s electricity is generated from coal, contributing to environmental problems and limiting diversification. The region has been experiencing a persistent power shortage, with some countries, like South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, facing widespread load shedding.”
He said climate change was exacerbating the problem by impacting water resources needed for hydroelectric power generation.
Minister Moyo said the region was richly endowed with natural resources that can be exploited for optimal benefit.
“The region can benefit from the hydro potential of the Zambezi basin, the hydro potential of the Inga River Basin, vast deposits of natural gas in Mozambique and rich oil deposits in Angola,” he added.
“It can also benefit from Uranium in Namibia, vast deposits of coal in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana, and renewables in such as solar, biomass, wind and geothermal distributed throughout the region.”
He said the region can also capitalise on critical energy minerals such as cobalt and lithium that play a key role in the development of renewable energy especially in the manufacture of components such as batteries, while value addition as opposed to exporting raw materials was the key.
