Swift action needed to bail ZESA

If there is anything that the people of Zimbabwe would like to quickly forget, worse still to experience once more, is the dark period in the recent past that saw load-shedding stretching for 18 hours a day.

The media has reported that the nation might plunge into darkness in eight days' time due to failure by ZESA Holdings to settle an outstanding power import bill of $43 million owed to Eskom of South Africa and Hydro Cahora Basa of Mozambique. Out of the daily consumption of 1400 megawatts, the country gets 300megawatts from Eskom. Thus, if Eskom made good on their threat to switch the country off, the aftermath will be catastrophic, more so with the economy that is trying to stand on its feet.  ZESA is said to have proposed a plan to pay Eskom $89 million between January and April this year. However, the power utility company failed to honour the self-designed payment plan, prompting Eskom to give the former up to the 31st of May 2017 to settle the arrears.

Only eight days are left and ZESA, according to its Chief Executive Officer, Engineer Josh Chifamba, has not secured the money as yet. That revelation, true as it is, might trigger alarm especially in the industry which wholly depends on electricity for production and other functions. What it, therefore, means is that the issue must be treated with utmost priority. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development must bail out ZESA soonest to avoid the attendant challenges that come with power shortages.

Before us is a national challenge that calls for a collective effort to address it. The production sector, especially the mining industry, will be the most affected. Whilst the problem is still across the river, fast approaching though, it would be prudent for the industry to chip in.  Of course it is ZESA's responsibility to provide electricity to the nation but the current situation does not need a business as usual approach anymore. The consequences of power outages will not only affect ZESA. Suppose you are travelling in a bus and the engine suddenly stalls and a push is needed to start the car. Whilst it is the responsibility of the bus crew to take you to your destination, you will not go anywhere if you don't help them to push-start the bus. ZESA needs everybody's ‘push' at this moment, lest we all go nowhere. Even those who used to get mega tenders from the parastatal must come to the rescue of their golden goose.

Hopefully, ZESA has learnt to live within its means. The economic environment is incontestably not so friendly at the moment due to the debilitating sanctions and other factors. Nevertheless, ZESA must adjust its modus operandi and align it with the current environment. The parastatal is known for paying handsome salaries to its general employees including students on attachment and obscene packs to the executives.  

Of late, ZESA Holdings has been pestering Government to give it a green light to increase power tariffs. It's unfortunate that the ordinary citizen has always become the first port of call for the people who refuse to think outside the box. Everybody who wants to raise money pass on the buck to the ordinary citizens who already have a myriad of other financial obligations.  The people-centred Government has been blocking these unwarranted tariff increase proposals. It must be thanked for its sensitivity to the plight of the people.

ZESA has many options that it can explore before resorting to increasing tariffs, one of which is adjusting its salary structures as well as the organisational structure. The unbundling of ZESA into successor companies namely; Zesa Enterprises, Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), PowerTel Communications, and Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company, brought with it additional financial obligation in the form of overheads. Each subsidiary company is headed by a well paid executive and staff with well resourced headquarters. It will pay dividend if the parastatal revert to its prior unbundling state.

ZESA is owed $1 billion by defaulting electricity consumers. It must put in place effective measures to recover that money. That money can fund energy generation projects that were mulled some years back. Government is set to establish 17 mini-hydro power stations on dams dotted around the country. The $1 billion debt can kick-start such projects.

Whilst ZESA has managed to recover most of its money from domestic users through its 50 percent debt recovery plan. Unfortunately, most of those who owe big money are not on a pre-paid meter system and have not been forthcoming.

There is a winter wheat production programme ahead which needs electricity. Zim-Asset has also identified electricity as a key economic enabler. All the other clusters in the blue print are anchored on energy, thus their success depends on the availability of electricity. Even investors look at the availability of cheap and consistent supply of energy as a precondition to their investment. Therefore, the nation cannot afford to lose the much sought-after investors because of dearth of electricity.