ZESCO made the move in an effort to safeguard its supply after suffering severe power disruptions over the past few days, which it is now blaming on Zimbabwe.
It is also understood that Zambian counterpart had also decided to cut off ZESA after they were cut off by South Africa’s power utility, Eskom, which is battling with power outages as a result of poor planning.
South Africa’s decision to cut off Zimbabwe and Zambia could have caused the two national power outages ,which plunged Zimbabwe, Zambia and parts of Botswana into darkness.
In Zambia, a number of Copper mining companies said the outages had cost them millions of dollars. They then called for the dismantling of Zesco, which they said was responsible for their losses.
Zimbabwe imports about 40% of its electricity and has had trouble paying its bills to its international suppliers because of its lack of foreign currency.
It has two suppliers in Mozambique, one in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Eskom. The country is also exporting power to Namibia in a deal which will see Hwange Power Station being rehabilitated.
Post published in: Economy