President Emmerson Mnangagwa has challenged mining companies to generate electricity saying this would reduce electricity imports.
He made the remarks after touring various mining companies in Hwange on the second day of his visit to the resource-rich mining town. The president said:
It pleases me that Zambezi Coal and Gas is diversifying into energy generation. We are spending hundreds of millions importing power when we have all resources to produce our energy. By 2023, we should be energy sufficient. By that year we should have enough electricity to drive our industry. Our industry should be driven by our own locally generated power.
Zimbabwe has an acute power shortage which has stifled the growth of the economy and various sectors in the country including agriculture and mining.
The Southern African country imports some of its electricity from neighbouring South Africa and Mozambique as local power generators – Kariba Hydro plant and Hwange Thermal Power Station, are failing to produce enough power due to low water levels at Kariba and ageing equipment at Hwange.
Importation of power means exportation of the scarce foreign currency and exportation of employment.
More: ZBC News