So lets look at the Infrastructure in Zimbabwe: World Bank Assessment 2011
Zimbabwe made significant progress in infrastructure in its early period as an independent state. The country managed to put in place a national electricity network and establish regional interconnection in the power sector; to build an extensive network of roads for countrywide accessibility and integration into the regional transport corridors; to lay the water and sewerage system; and to make progress on building dams and tapping the significant irrigation potential.
Unfortunately, at present the cross-cutting issue across all these sectors is Zimbabwe’s inability to maintain and rehabilitate the existing infrastructure since the country became immersed in economic and political turmoil in the late 1990s.
Neglect of all sectors due to the crisis has resulted in a generalized lack of new investment (in the power and water sectors in particular), and the accumulation of a huge rehabilitation agenda. Quality of service has declined across the board. The power system has become unjustifiably costly, inefficient, and unreliable.
The condition of roads has deteriorated to the point that Zimbabwe became a bottleneck on the North–South transport corridor. Rural connectivity hardly exists. Failure to treat potable water, along with the deterioration of the water, sanitation, and garbage disposal systems, was responsible for the spread of cholera in 2008 {see section regarding Water and Sewage next}. By 2010 cholera affected most areas of the country and posed a health threat to neighboring countries.
- Looking ahead, Zimbabwe faces a number of important infrastructure challenges. Zimbabwe’s most pressing challenges lie in the power and water sectors. Inefficient and unreliable power supply poses major risks to the economy, while the maintenance and upgrading of existing power infrastructure no longer looks to be affordable. At the same time, overhauling the water and sewerage system is imperative for curbing the public health crisis.
- With respect to regional integration, Zimbabwe must improve the condition of the international road corridors that pass through its territory, along with reducing transit costs and transit time, to gain the most from its strategic location in the heart of the southern Africa region and its proximity to the region’s largest economy and trading partner: South Africa.
- Addressing Zimbabwe’s infrastructure challenges will require sustained expenditure of almost $2 billion per year over the next decade, with heavy emphasis on rehabilitation; more than half is needed for the power sector. This overall level of spending would represent 46 percent of gross domestic product (GDP),1 one of the largest infrastructure burdens for any African country. Investment alone would absorb 31 percent of GDP, roughly twice the unprecedented infrastructure investment effort made by China during the 2000s. Even if measured in terms of average pre-crisis GDP, the overall infrastructure spending needs would absorb some 30 percent of GDP.
Oh dear – what progress has been made over the intervening 12 years?
Well this study in April 2020 {3 years ago and 9 years after the World Bank’s assessment is not encouraging.
Problematic Infrastructure Factors Affecting Development in the 21st Century for Zimbabwe *Wellington G. Bonga1 and Rodrick Sithole2 1Department of Banking and Finance, Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe. 2Department of Banking, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe.
The study identified and discussed five problematic infrastructure factors that hinders development. Addressing of the factors will place the country on a better position for recovery using a better recovery pace. The study utilized the Network Theory to support its argument. The identified factors are power cuts and shortages, poor road infrastructure, inefficient rail network within the country, water shortages and poor transport infrastructure for access to ports.
Power cuts and shortages
Availability of power to every citizen is a basic requirement. Rural electrification has been a mantra for both politicians and social and economic development seekers in many developing nations. Low priced power can contribute significantly to the efficient and effective functioning of the Zimbabwe economy (AfDB, 2019)[1]. There has been a growing outcry of power cuts and shortages for the past years, and this has affected the smooth flow of business. The power system has become unjustifiably costly, inefficient, and unreliable (Pushak and Briceño-Garmendia, 2011), and this remains the case to date. Zimbabwe’s power infrastructure is starved of new investments. Alternatives to electric power in form of generators gained momentum, but due to shortages and high costs of fuel the option flopped. Energy crisis has been worsening over the years in the country, and to solve such there has been load shedding taking place to ration the little energy in the country (Bonga and Chirowa, 2014). To operate efficiently businesses and factories need electricity supplies that are free of interruptions and shortages (AfDB, 2019). Zimbabwe obtains electricity energy from its five internal sources and imports as well. Kariba power station produces the highest level followed by Hwange power station with less than half while some small amounts comes from Bulawayo, Harare and Munyati stations. The power stations comprise of aging equipment, hence imported electricity has a significant fraction to cover up for the energy deficit in the country (Bonga and Chirowa, 2014). Power cuts and shortages have affected business operations and planning. Heavy industries have scaled down heavily are far operating below capacity. The price of power has also soared due to rationing leading to high cost of doing business. The alternatives to power are equally unattainable.
Full PDF in Appendix
So what is the situation with Electricity in 2023? An Article 21st March 2023 is up to the minute - but depressing
https://theworld.org/stories/2023-03-21/zimbabwe-struggles-keep-power
Businessman Kizito Tinarwo said he has many orders for products from his small steel and aluminum factory, but power blackouts have hit production hard in Zimbabwe.
He uses a gasoline-powered generator when the power goes out, but this is expensive and has its limits.
“It cuts into profits because we add to our costs of doing business,” he said. “The generator cannot run forever; it has its prescribed running hours. We switch it on and off. In the process, our lead times are affected.”
This has been the case since he started his business about four years ago. But the latest outages have been longer — sometimes lasting 19 hours a day.
Along the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia sits Lake Kariba, where low water levels have interrupted power supply to both countries. The world’s largest manmade lake by volume is on the Zambezi River, with hydroelectric power generators on both sides. Zimbabwe gets 70% of its power from Lake Kariba. But plunging water levels have worsened a yearslong power crisis — profoundly impacting the economy.
And Tinarwo is not the only one impacted by the power outages. Zimbabwe’s many minerals include platinum, gold, chrome and lithium, and mining accounts for the bulk of Zimbabwe’s export earnings.
Collin Chibafa, president of the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines, said some 88% of the country's mines experience outages of as long as 12 hours.
He said some mining companies are now taking matters into their own hands by building solar plants.
“Obviously, those only work maybe four or five hours a day [that] we get peak production. Some of our members run diesel generators, but that's an expensive and the least-viable option. If you have people underground, they need ventilation, they need oxygen, it's really crucial that you can safely get people up from underground,” he said.
Households are not spared the inconvenience as power goes without prior notice. People with enough discretionary income may use generators, solar energy and inverters — but these options are beyond reach for the majority. Gas for cooking has become the go-to option for those who can afford it. For those who can’t, charcoal is readily available and affordable. And the sprawling, open-air market in Mbare, Harare's oldest working-class neighborhood, is the place to buy it.
Nyarai Mupesa, who has sold charcoal there for the past five years, said business is good whenever there is no power.
“When there are power cuts, sales are good, people need charcoal for cooking and to keep warm,” she said.
The problem is that charcoal, and the other low-cost option, kerosene, both contribute to deforestation and pollution. Chopping and burning trees for charcoal is illegal in Zimbabwe. But that has not stopped the practice. And most of the charcoal sold at Mbare is imported from Mozambique because, according to Mupesa, it is better quality.
“You pay the required duties and are issued with a receipt that enables you to get to Harare with your charcoal,” she explained.
Besides the hydroelectric plant on Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe's other main power source, the Hwange thermal power station is old and breaks down frequently. New units at the power plant are set to start generating power soon. But even if it and Kariba operate at capacity, they cannot meet Zimbabwe's power needs.
Energy expert {??} Victor Utedzi runs a solar farm.
He sees renewable energy as a solution to Zimbabwe’s power problems. So does the government. In a bid to attract more local and private investors to set up solar and hydropower plants to sell to the national grid or direct to some consumers, the government recently announced new policies.
“The government has given a guarantee that if the utility is unable to pay, the government will step in and make the payment. The government has also opened the space even further; they allow you to sell directly to some of the largest industrial and commercial clients in the country,” Utedzi said.
The government also imports power from neighboring countries but that doesn’t always work due to currency shortages.
Building another hydropower station upstream from Kariba is seen as the best hope for solving Zimbabwe's power woes. But two decades after it was proposed, no action has been taken.
Until it becomes a reality, the rolling blackouts will continue.
Comment:
So, the same regime has been in power {excuse the pun} for 43 years and still these problems persist! What is to blame? Who is to blame?
Empty and grandiose promises are made every 5 years for the election cycle - but as can be seen from the evidence {both anecdotal and peer reviewed} nothing happens. The power outages are just getting worse! The regime is to blame.
The same regime that is seeking inward investment at the Indaba over 20th and 21st April 2023
Caveat Emptor: Let the buyer {investor} beware!! This old adage could not be more true in Zimbabwe after 43 years of neglected infrastructure. #GoldMafia has exposed the reality of “Business in Zimbabwe” and its Rotten to the Core!
