Zesa Holdings says it has no financial capacity to implement bankable energy projects and has asked the mining sector to chip in with funds to enable the power utility to boost its output, a senior official said.
The parastatal’s business development and planning manager Patrick Chivaura was responding to concerns from the mining sector that power outages were hampering the sector’s recovery efforts.
“Zesa has no financial strength, (just like the) government, to implement bankable projects. So we are calling upon the mining sector to take part in the projects,” said Chivaura.
Chamber of Mines deputy president Allan Mashingaidze had earlier told delegates power shortages and lack of capital remained a major drawback to the sector which is the key to economic revival.
“Over $6 billion dollars is needed over the next five years to develop the mining sector, but capital has stood as the major impediment to the growth of the mining industry,” said Mashingaidze.
“If we acknowledge that there are limitations on the local market to adequately service the requirements of the sector, the country has to create conditions to attract foreign investment
“But the full resolution of the political risk would allow the business sector to unlock capital for implementation of several economic projects,” he said.
Economic Planning and Investment Promotion deputy minister Samuel Undenge said though the mining sector was critical in economic growth, there was need for reliable energy supply for the mining sector to grow.
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Undenge said under the Medium-Term Plan, the government intends to increase power generation capacity from the current 1 200MW to 2 800MW by 2015.
