Load shedding to end: Zim Government

ZTN Correspondent

The Zimbabwe Government says it will soon resolve the electricity supply shortages which have led to countrywide load shedding, with power outages lasting up to 15 hours a day.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Dr. Sibusiso Moyo told delegates at an exporters seminar organized by Zimtrade in the capital, Harare, on Thursday that government has come up with a number of interventions to end the load shedding.

Although he would not give much details on the plans to end the power shortages, Dr Moyo said government is working to fix the problem.

His remarks come at a time when acting Minister of Energy and Power Development, Dr. Sekai Nzenza on Tuesday, revealed that a payment plan was agreed between Zesa and South Africa’s power company, Eskom for the supply of electricity to Zimbabwe.

“We can report that ZETDC has engaged a local bank to the tune of a US$15 million guarantee to unlock supply of 400MW from Eskom. At the same time, the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and Eskom have also agreed on a payment plan so that these initiatives that have been put into place can enable us to have more power,” said Dr. Nzenza.

Zimbabwe is also working on alternative energy sources to feed power to the national grid, including a solar project to be built by a South African company, which is expected to generate 100MW.