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Investor fears block Zimbabwe power plans
- 14 years ago (2010-06-11)
- Junior Isles
After being unable to attract funds from potential investors to build new power stations and upgrade existing units, Zimbabwe’s power expansion plans have failed to make any progress.
Elias Mudzuri, Zimbabwe’s Energy and Power Development Minister, has been reported as saying that the country is producing 1100 MW, less than half of the 2700 MW required. He said the government was inviting IPPs to invest in the electricity sector, but none have done so to date.
"We are ready to give new licences to such ventures. This will help us to have new power plants to enable us to deliver adequate power to the whole nation. To be honest with you, there are no concrete commitments. People have made enquiries ... some have signed MOUs. The difficulty in this country is the atmosphere of investment. We're saying those who want to come, come and join us now, but the (lack of) confidence is what is killing us," he said
Zimbabwe badly needs billions of dollars to set up new power plants and rehabilitate obsolete equipment to provide the power it needs to recover from its decade of economic contraction.
