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Grace Zvavamwe
Correspondent
The massive load shedding experienced in the country recently was a result of a number of challenges the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) is facing.
Despite ZETDC having to deal with rising power demand and obsolete infrastructure, what cannot be disputed is that these challenges are partly being caused by the illegal sanctions imposed on the country by the West in the early 2000s.
In a harsh response to the country’s noble Land Reform that redistributed land from the hands of the white minority to the black majority, Britain and its allies imposed illegal sanctions in a bid to cripple the country’s economy and cause regime change in the country.
The energy sector has not been spared from the effects of these illegal sanctions as companies such as ZETDC subsequently failed to attract investors, purchase new machinery and have strategic partnership with some international investors because of these economic restrictions.
Because of the illegal sanctions that have since become an albatross on the country’s energy sector, the energy infrastructure dilapidated significantly due to decreased foreign direct investments.
Since the imposition of sanctions, there has been limited access to credit lines and support from international financial institutions such as the World Bank, which stopped their support for energy infrastructure development programmes.
To express the impact of the illegal sanctions on the country’s energy sector, international investors now demand Government guarantees as prerequisite for investing in the sector, while charging high interest rates on loans for infrastructure development.
Surely, all these harsh conditions will impact negatively on the country’s efforts to provide uninterrupted power supply to its citizens and industries.
The illegal sanctions have also impacted negatively on the rate of implementation of capital projects, resulting in curtailed and unreliable power infrastructure, insecure power supply and uncompetitive industries, with power outages directly affecting other sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing.
Without the oppressive sanctions, the Batoka Gorge Hydro power plant that is expected to produce over 200MW would have been completed long back.
Smaller power plants could have been installed on other water bodies dotted around Zimbabwe. However, sanctions continue to make some investors, especially those from the Western side of the world shun investing in Zimbabwe.
Moreover, the local energy sector is in a predicament as far as purchase of new machinery is concerned as they can only do so through a third party as most countries are afraid to deal with Zimbabwe directly in fear of waking up with a death penalty of sanctions.
Failure to retool and refurbish local power plants have caused Zimbabweans to sometimes endure rolling power cuts, sometimes lasting 18 hours a day because of the ageing electricity power plants.
The situation has been worse as the country cannot rely on the European suppliers who installed the first plants at Kariba Hydro Power Plant to provide service kits because of sanctions.
To expose the hypocrisy of the West that the stringent measures are targeted at certain individuals, it is the ordinary Zimbabwean who has to live without electricity because of the sanctions induced load shedding.
The claim by the West that sanctions were targeted on few individuals is pure trash as the harsh effects of the embargoes are being felt by everyone in the country.
These punitive measures have effectively hampered the Government’s efforts to implement its development agenda.
As the Zimbabwe Anti Sanctions Day draws closer on October 25, we continue to urge the West to unconditionally lift sanctions they imposed on Zimbabwe.
These sanctions limit the country’s ability to guarantee the functioning of public institutions, delivery of service and maintenance of essential infrastructure, as well as undermine the right to development of the Zimbabwean people.
Sanctions also impede the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS), hence they should be lifted.
As much as Zimbabwe is determined to build its country brick by brick as always said by President Mnangagwa, the pace at which the country is being developed will be reduced because of the sanctions.
These sanctions should be immediately uplifted to enable the country to chart its development trajectory without hindrances.
Online Reporter