By 
By Ross Moyo
Zesa Holdings executive chairman Dr Sydney Gata has said Zesa will now Stop BuildIng Power stations To Support Consumers That Can Build Their Own powerstations.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority boss made these revelations while speaking on strategies to deal with electricity shortages in the capital city of Harare yesterday.
Gata’s strategy will resultantly end load-shedding after making it categorically
lear that mining and smelting sectors drew huge amounts of electricity and it was not necessary for the Government to borrow money to build powerstations for these sectors.
“I am very proud to announce that as a result of the measures we have taken, we now have positive investments in the generation sector as well as in other sectors of our industry,” said Dr Gata.
“What we did was to decide that it was not necessary for our Government and this is true for the continent of Africa, for them to guarantee investments which benefit, in the main, the multilateral corporations which invest particularly in the mining sector”.
Dr Gata said the mining and smelting sectors drew huge amounts of electricity and it was not necessary for the Government to borrow money to build power stations to support consumers that can build their own power stations.
“We have shifted the risk of energy supply in respect of the big companies from the Government and ZESA to the companies themselves. Bear in mind that our Government took a similar measure in another sector of energy which is the fuel sector,” he said.
“When they decided that we are no longer going to be importing fuel for you, you can import your fuel, you noticed how queues evaporated overnight.
“In our case, the queues manifest in the backlog of maintenance, the backlog of new connections, the backlog of our operations.
“So, to cure that, we decided that those customers we now describe as competent customers must fend for themselves, but we are assisting them”.
The Zesa Holdings executive chairman Dr Sydney Gata announced a comprehensive strategy to end load-shedding by next year and achieve universal access to electricity across the country by 2030.
Dr Gata focused on local manufacturing, international partnerships, and organisational efficiency.
Gata cited that his plans will enhance energy security, and will lay a firm foundation for the country’s economic growth, improved quality of life, social equity, enhanced infrastructure, increased productivity and overall development.
In accordance with Government policy, Dr Gata said ZESA will rebundle its group of companies to streamline operations and enhance efficiency to create a more cohesive approach to energy management and distribution, allowing for quicker responses to national energy demands.
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