Government Chief Spokesperson, Chushi Kasanda, has called on stakeholders to invest in electricity generation and supply to help curb power shortages in the country.
Ms Kasanda, who is also the Minister of Information and Media, explained that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is facing an energy crisis which in the medium to long term may increase and affect Zambia due to the planned increase in copper production.
She said the financial status of ZESCO is not enough to forestall the envisaged power shortages, thus it is imperative to inquire into factors that can persuade private players to venture into electricity generation to come on board.
‘’The price or tariff for electricity is one of the major factors. Although the tariff must be conducive, it must be justifiable on economic grounds and also be sensitive to the needs of the poor,’’ she said in a statement issued to the media.
Ms Kasanda said stakeholders are generally in agreement with the initial government position on the findings of the cost of service study and principles for tariffs setting following consultative meetings held in all the provinces in the country.
The consultative meetings were meant to understand the cost of service study in the energy sector.
Ms Kasanda cited the importance of more investment in increased electricity generation through the various sources to match growth in population as well as demands of growing economy as one of the principles agreed upon by the stakeholders.
“Currently, the electricity sector is not very attractive to investors due to tariffs that do not cost reflective,’’ she noted.
Ms Kasanda further said the stakeholders were also in agreement with the tariff adjustment towards cost reflectivity which will be undertaken gradually over a period of five years beginning in 2023 to minimize their impact on individuals and businesses.
“The adjustment of tariffs will be done in line with the provisions of the Electricity Act No.11 of 2019. This requires a predefined period of public consultations, which would mean that any adjustment in tariffs would only be done by the Energy Regulation board in the second quarter of 2023. The multi-year migration path envisages gradual increases over the subsequent four years,’’ she explained.
There is a time in life when one speaks for 2hours and the audience went home with nothing tangible in their heads. This is one case here. what really was this Santa clause trying to say here? Everything is as though someone was reading from a historical book and not her own speech-no impact whatsoever!
She always in past tense!
A then Pf minister said the same thing , invest in generators, this minister is spinning the the same BS. Monopoly is limited. ZESCO has failed.
GRZ and UPND have no detailed plan to guide progress toward a goal for our public. Someone pinch me and let me know if this coincides with what was discussed in Washington DC recently.
IMF Are you reading this? “Currently, the electricity sector is not very attractive to investors due to tariffs that do not cost reflective,’’ -LT
What’s going on with the central government?
When goats are moving in a line and the one ahead jumps, all those that follow after it will also jump at that particular position irrespective of the reason the first one did it. This is the case here. Just because somebody at one time had mentioned the term ‘cost reflective tariff’ every jack now repeats the chorus even when they can’t explain what it means. I have on several occasions asked managers at Zesco which their breakeven point is and they have failed to tell me yet they have accountants and other support staff. They have two explanations, 1 is that they’re the cheapest in the region and 2 is that cost of the duplex cable is now high. Do you expect us to make any progress? Let’s just accept that we have failed to rule ourselves and may be revert to being a British colony…
I don’t know where a bunch of people in this space get their information from. Fact is the electricity rates in Zambia are the lowest in the region. No serious investors would want to put money in the electricity generation through ZESCO simply because the profit margins are either around zero or worse in the negatives. This is what the Minister is saying.