A Policy Lag in Zimbabwe’s Energy Sector

Zimbabwe’s energy industry is being reshaped by rapid technological change, yet policymakers appear to be lagging behind these developments.

The biggest change has been the rise of distributed energy generation, particularly solar power supported by battery storage. Solar technology has improved drastically in recent years while costs have fallen sharply. Businesses and households can now generate a meaningful share of their own electricity at prices far below what they pay through the grid. Battery storage has also become cheaper and more efficient, making it possible to rely on solar power well beyond daylight hours.

The consequence is obvious. Large consumers are beginning to ask why they should continue depending on an unreliable and expensive national grid when they can increasingly produce electricity themselves at lower cost.

This shift is already visible across South Africa where businesses, mines and even residential estates are rapidly shifting toward independent generation. Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) will soon have face the same reality.

At a time when technology is driving generation costs downward globally, local authorities continue to respond with higher tariffs, new levies, and increased access charges instead of encouraging private investment and expanding electricity generation. Policy often appears designed to protect outdated structures and revenue streams rather than adapting to conditions on the ground.

But the country urgently needs more electricity, not less investment.

Demand for power is going to rise sharply in Zimbabwe over the next decade. Mining expansion, lithium processing, chrome smelting, irrigation, urban growth and industrialisation will all require huge amounts of energy. Even the digital economy is changing demand patterns. Data centres, automated manufacturing systems and modern industrial processing all depend on reliable electricity supply. Economic growth without energy growth is impossible.

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The recent conflict involving Iran and the instability it created in international energy markets served as another reminder that countries which fail to secure reliable domestic power supplies leave themselves dangerously exposed to external shocks. Energy policy has become a matter of national resilience and economic management.

What makes Zimbabwe’s situation more frustrating is that investment appetite clearly exists. Private investors are already planning major solar, gas and coal projects across the region. Chinese investment in mining and energy infrastructure continues to expand aggressively, largely driven by long-term industrial strategy and secure access to critical minerals.

While the private sector is willing to fund power generation where there is regulatory certainty and a clear path to cost recovery, current policy approaches often run counter to this. High transmission charges, policy uncertainty and currency risks are also discouraging wider participation.

Rather than integrating independent power producers into the national system, the present structure risks pushing large users completely off-grid. And once major mines, smelters and industrial consumers become energy independent, ZESA could lose some of its largest and most profitable customers.

That would create a dangerous cycle. Higher tariffs would then be imposed on the remaining users to compensate for lost revenue, encouraging even more consumers to abandon the grid where possible.

Zimbabwe should be encouraging co-supply arrangements in which private producers complement rather than replace the national grid. The grid itself should remain a strategic national asset and will continue to play a central role in balancing supply, transmitting power and supporting economic growth. But it cannot survive if policy makers treat independent power producers as competitors rather than partners.

Equally important is the need for realism about costs. Industry cannot compete internationally while paying electricity tariffs far above those of competing economies. Manufacturers, miners and exporters ultimately price electricity into every tonne of steel, lithium, chrome or agricultural product they produce. Expensive power translates directly into reduced competitiveness, weaker exports and slower growth.

The technology, capital, and demand already exist in Zimbabwe and across the region. What remains uncertain is whether policymakers can move fast enough to keep up with a future that is already arriving.