In return, Zimbabwe will export 40 megawatts of power to Botswana. Although Zimbabwe media reports suggested that BPC had already signed the deal, acting CEO of BPC, Lindiwe Mgadla confirmed that her company has not entered into any agreement yet with ZPC. Calls to government officials to shed more light on what the issues are that need to be agreed on were not answered. Should the deal be signed more than half ($4.5m ) of the $8m will be used to refurbish the Bulawayo Thermal Power Station, while the remainder will be used to buy coal. Bulawayo Thermal Power Station was closed due to financial problems, which has plagued other thermal power stations as well.
Mgadla however noted that Botswana imports about 50% of its power needs from its neighbours. Democratic Republic of Congo supplies 50 megawatts, Mozambique 40 megawatts and South Africa 250 megawatts. ZPC is a subsidiary of Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) which is said to be in $428m debt. In addition, ZESA needs to raise approximately $385m for emergency power needs. Moneyweb (SA)