Online Reporter
Kudzanai Sharara in ALGIERS, Algeria
THE Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company has secured a US$210 million facility from Afreximbank earmarked for a wide range of projects aimed at strengthening the country’s power network, improving efficiency and combating vandalism.
ZETDC finance director, Mr Frederick Mazana, revealed details of the agreement, which was signed at the Intra-African Trade Fair 2025 underway here.
A portion of the funds, US$50 million, will be allocated for power imports from HCB of Mozambique, a development that will help to augment the country’s electricity supply.
A key part of the investment is the upgrade of the national grid, with the ZETDC planning to use US$5 million to upgrade its SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system.
According to Mr Mazana, the current system is inefficient, making it difficult for controllers to quickly identify and isolate faults.
“We are at that stage where we are now going to implement the meter data management system and we are going to convert all those postpaid meters into smart meters that will have a platform that will house their wallet, where we are going to switch them off remotely when they run out of power. So, we are going to use it for prepaid meters and smart meters.”
The upgrade will allow the company to “efficiently and effectively, in no time, be able to identify those areas where we are having problems”.
In an effort to combat the widespread issue of vandalism, the facility will also be used to manufacture and purchase new transformers and cables.
“We have a number of customers that are off supply because their infrastructure has been vandalised,” Mr Mazana noted, highlighting the importance of this investment in restoring power to affected areas.
“We are also going to use some of the money for manufacturing transformers through Zent.
“We are also going to augment that with some supplies from other private suppliers, which we are going to pay for using the facility.”
A significant portion of the funding is dedicated to a new smart metering project.
The ZETDC plans to install smart meters across the country, with a particular focus on heavy power users. This initiative will involve converting existing post-paid meters to smart meters, which will have a wallet-based system.
The move will allow ZETDC to remotely switch off power when a user’s balance runs out.
The project also aims to complete the conversion of the remaining 60 000 prepaid meters, ensuring all customers are on either a prepaid or smart meter system.
This modernisation effort is expected to improve revenue collection and reduce energy losses.
