The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
THE Ministry of Energy and Power Development has called on the private sector to continue playing an active role in collaborating with the Government in the energy sector to ensure that the power supply is improved and, once it reaches optimum levels, it is sustained.
Speaking at the Township Economies and Rural Entrepreneurship Forum in Bulawayo on Tuesday, Energy and Power Development Permanent Secretary, Dr Gloria Magombo said the Government was in the process of coming up with measures to ensure the efficient use of the existing power being generated.
“At a policy level, we are working on bringing in an energy efficiency policy which will highlight the need for everyone to use energy efficiently such that while we are still growing the capacity to supply additional power, we are also using what we have efficiently so that it can be accessible to everyone.
“We need to bring in other players within the sector in particular the private sector. In energy, the role of the private sector, cannot go unnoticed and that is why as the Government we continue to invite investments in the energy sector from private stations,” she said.
She said in the petroleum sector over 90 percent was driven by the private sector licensed by the regulatory in terms of procurement and retail companies as well as wholesalers.
The Permanent Secretary said one sector which has grown significantly and is driven also by consumption, especially within in the townships was the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
“I think the demand for gas over the last 15 to 20 years has grown more than 10 times in terms of what it used to be. According to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) the LPG sector has over the years developed in leaps and bounds with consumption increasing phenomenally from 5 million kilogrammes (kgs) in 2010 to 60 million kgs in 2022,” added Dr Magombo.
In terms of access to modern energy, she said as of 2022 during the census, it was revealed that the country had reached about 62 percent access to modern energy based on the door to door census.
The Permanent Secretary said part of that was coming from renewable energy.
“That 62 percent leaves us with about 38 percent which is still a huge number which does not have access to modern energy. So our role as Government is to ensure that we accelerate and have that access achieved.”
She called on entrepreneurs to make use of opportunities available in the energy sector especially in renewable energy, while also making use of the strategic minerals which are mainly critical materials for renewable energy.
Meanwhile, conveners of the event which is running concurrently as the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) 2024, financial advisory firm, DEAT Capital Zimbabwe managing director, Mr Nicky Moyo said focus on township and rural economies was important because it has the potential to address unemployment, stimulate economic growth, foster entrepreneurship, empower communities, reduce inequality and contribute to the overall well-being and inclusive development.
