Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) executive chairperson Sydney Gata has accused Finance Ministry secretary George Guvamatanga of refusing to guarantee Independent Power Producers’ (IPPs) deals and unlock their funding.

The deals have the potential to produce 300 megawatts of electricity, which would go a long way in easing the current power crisis that has seriously affected the operations of business and industry.

The government last year licensed dozens of IPPs but they require the Finance Ministry to provide the necessary surety. Gata said:

The secretary for Finance is the main culprit. I can put it in writing so that you can go and tell him this is what I said.

It is the Ministry of Finance that is responsible for issuing those guarantees which can unlock a lot of capacity that can end load shedding.

Not only that, we could export electricity to South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia which are more desperate than ourselves.

Zimbabwe’s energy supply remains fragile and relies on power imports to plug the shortfall, and due to the depressed generation capacity, only 40% of houses in the country have access to electricity with 83% in urban areas and the remainder in rural areas.