Published: 6 hours ago

The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) has officially opened the door to private investors and developers to connect over 371 fully-built but un-electrified suburbs across the country, a move aimed at ending decades of power deprivation in so-called "dark cities."

The initiative forms part of six strategic models designed to accelerate electrification and clear a backlog that has left thousands of households, businesses, and industrial centres without electricity.

Acting ZETDC Managing Director Engineer Abel Gurupira revealed the plan at the recently concluded Africa Capital Markets Forum in South Africa, highlighting the utility's shift toward public-private partnerships to overcome financial and operational constraints.

"When our colleagues generate the power, what we then need to do as ZETDC is to distribute that same power and get it to the end users. They become the most important components of the whole matrix because if you don't get them to pay, then the whole process is futile," Eng Gurupira said.

The official noted that many suburbs and commercial zones have been constructed for years without electricity, leaving residents and businesses in prolonged darkness.

"We have close to 371 suburbs that are un-reticulated, that don't have electricity supply, but that are fully built," he confirmed.

To address this challenge, ZETDC has developed six distinct connection models, with a major departure from past practice being the active engagement of private capital and expertise.

Under one model, private companies can be licensed as secondary distribution licensees, managing local distribution networks with bulk electricity supplied by ZETDC. Private players will fund, build, and maintain the networks, recovering costs through electricity sales, potentially leveraging ZETDC's existing billing system.

"Our regulator (Zera) will license them, and they can reticulate the suburbs, build, and recover costs through even our billing system as Zesa," Eng Gurupira said.

Other innovative models include bank-financed community projects, with pilot schemes already underway and plans to expand to additional suburbs, as well as advanced net metering systems that allow communities with solar or other local generation to feed surplus power back into the grid managed by private players.

The strategic shift signals a major policy evolution in national electrification, acknowledging that the utility alone cannot address the backlog. By leveraging private sector efficiency and funding, ZETDC aims to finally deliver power to long-neglected communities.

For the residents of the 371 "dark suburbs," this initiative could mark the long-awaited switch-on, ending years of living without electricity and unlocking opportunities for economic growth and improved livelihoods.
- The Chronicle

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