Zesa's $5 million Chinese billing platform faces early hiccups

Zimbabwe's state power utility, Zesa Holdings (Zesa), is grappling with teething problems from a newly-introduced US$5 million billing platform, which has left some customers unable to register new smart meters or purchase electricity tokens.

The platform, known as the ZETDC Utility Management System (Zums), was launched on January 6 as part of Zesa's efforts to modernise its billing operations, improve efficiency, and reduce electricity theft associated with older systems.

According to Zesa's subsidiary, the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), the issues affected only new smart meters installed from December 2025. Older meters were successfully transferred to the Zums system and continued to function normally.

ZETDC confirmed that 1 309 new smart meters nationwide were affected, with installations across the eastern (372), Harare (268), northern (74), southern (251), and western (344) provinces. Customers reported that, despite having funds available, they were unable to buy electricity and were forced to rely on alternative energy sources such as firewood, gas, and solar power.

"The utility lost minimal revenue as it was proactive in advancing energy units to affected customers while their registration was being finalised," ZETDC told the Zimbabwe Independent. "Recovery of the advanced units was then processed upon customer registration."

The new platform was procured through a public tender from Chinese firm Longshine Technology Group Company Limited, at a cost of approximately US$5 million, excluding VAT and duty. The system covers both software and hardware components and was commissioned under tender number ZETDC/INTER/05/2024.

ZETDC acknowledged that challenges were expected during migration to a new system and said the registration of affected customers is ongoing.

"Migration challenges may be experienced as users familiarise themselves with a new platform. This challenge has since been addressed, and teams are currently fast-tracking the registration of all affected customers," the utility said.

However, some customers have disputed ZETDC's assurances, claiming they never received the promised advance electricity units. One customer, who paid about US$200 for a new smart meter in December, said: "I bought my smart meter when Zums was already in place, but it failed to register new meters. I never received any advance power tokens and feel cheated because I paid for a service that was not available."

ZETDC said the new system was necessary to integrate fragmented systems and accommodate both local and foreign currency billing while remaining compliant with Zimbabwe's tax laws. It also supports smart metering, prepaid billing, net metering, and automated billing processes — capabilities the previous mono-currency system could not handle.

The utility said it remains committed to ensuring all customers are fully registered and able to access electricity without further disruption.