Wednesday, November 11, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
ENERGY-ZIMBABWE: Villagers Benefit from Rural Electrification Project
Hilary Kathlene Siyachitema
- Precious Munemo, 18, sits by the television set and concentrates on her favourite programme.
Three years ago it would have been impossible for her to watch her favourable TV programme. The family is fortunate to have benefited from the Rural Electrification Programme, which the Zimbabwean government is undertaking.
The Munemo family says they can now enjoy the benefits of having electricity in the home. ‘’These benefits include lighting and using other electrical appliances such as refrigerators, radios and irons,” says Munemo.
The Munemo family, whose rural home is in Seke communal lands, 45 kilometres south of the capital Harare, says the cost of electricity is reasonable and hassle-free.
‘’We used to burn firewood and kerosene but now we are privileged to have lights inside our own home,” Munemo adds.
Government implemented the rural electrification programme in the early 1980s and by 1984 completed 23 projects in rural centres nationwide. The initial scheme was completed at a cost of 5.8 million Zimbabwe dollars.
One U.S. dollar is equal to 55 Zimbabwe dollars.
A member of another household that benefited from the rural electrification programme says the project should be spread to all corners of the country.
According to the country’s power utility, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), about 35 percent of Zimbabwe’s population has access to electricity.
The World Bank says about two billion people worldwide still lack grid electricity and most of them are in rural communities of developing countries.
The Zimbabwean government, in co-operation with ZESA, has completed 1,529 electrification projects throughout the southern African country. The programme, which is estimated to cost 25 billion Zimbabwe dollars, is funded through the Rural Electrification Fund Levy, which is six percent charged on all electricity bill.
The programme is targeting schools, rural health centres and chiefs homes and villages.
A consumer in Chitungwiza, a satellite city of Harare, says the electrification of Zimbabwe is a welcome move and will help in the development of the country as well as the economic empowerment of the country’s citizens. ”We do not mind paying the six percent levy as long as it is being used for the purposes we are paying it for,” says Irene Mutasa.
The objective of the Rural Electrification Fund Act of 2002 is to ”facilitate rapid and equitable electrification of the rural areas of Zimbabwe”.
The fund shall also comprise ”any loans, donations and grants made to the Fund by any person or authority or by any government of any country”, according to the Act.
In his state of the nation address last week, President Robert Mugabe said the Act has given a boost to the rural electrification programme.
”The electricity will be used in irrigation, milling, welding and other small business. Electrification will bring about economic gain for people in rural Zimbabwe,” Mugabe said.
The power programme is targeting schools, rural health centres and chiefs homes and villages.
Some seven billion Zimbabwe dollars, worth of bonds, have also been issued and will assist in the financing of the venture.
ZESA generates around 40 percent of the electricity used in Zimbabwe. The remaining is imported from South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique.
Electricity is an emission free form of power supply as compared to other forms of power supply such as firewood, kerosene and gases.
Thomas Rodrigues, a consumer, who is based in Harare, says the use of electricity will have a positive impact on the environment. ”There will be less cutting down of tress which are important in any natural ecosystem,” Rodrigues says.
Print
|
ENERGY-ZIMBABWE: Villagers Benefit from Rural Electrification Project
Hilary Kathlene Siyachitema
- Precious Munemo, 18, sits by the television set and concentrates on her favourite programme.
(more…)
Print
|
