During a recent visit to Zimbabwe, senior officials with the African Development Bank (AfDB) discussed developing the private sector and ways the country could best tap its renewable energy resources, including hydropower and dams.
On this three-day business mission, Dr. Kevin Kariuki, AfDB vice president for power, energy, climate and green growth and Solomon Quaynor, vice president for private sector, infrastructure and industrialization, met with senior Zimbabwean government officials and business leaders, including Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube and Energy and Power Development Minister Soda Zhemu. Others participants included representatives of Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) and the Southern Africa Power Pool.
Zhemu commended AfDB for its continued investment in Zimbabwe’s power sector. “The government of Zimbabwe appreciates the African Development Bank’s support and involvement, particularly in the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation project ($32 million), the ZimFund Emergency Power Infrastructure Rehabilitation project ($59.5 million), the Alaska-Karoi Transmission Reinforcement project ($19 million) and the Energy Sector Reform Support project ($3.5 million),” he said.
Kariba Dam on the Zambezi River is 128 meters tall and 579 meters long. The dam impounds water for the 1,830-MW Kariba hydroelectric plant. In October 2019, ZRA awarded the tender for rehabilitation of the Kariba Dam spillway to a consortium comprising GE Hydro France and Freyssinet International. The spillway is a major component of the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project, and the contract is valued at $53,684,000.
Ncube underscored the Zimbabwe government’s progress in tackling the economy’s structural and fiscal bottlenecks and noted the importance of the private sector.
“We are happy to assist Zimbabwe in implementing key energy reforms to create a vibrant energy sector,” Kariuki said. He cited the bank’s role in developing the Batoka Gorge Hydro Power project, which is expected to boost electricity supply within the Southern Africa Development Community region.
The project is about 34 mi downstream from Victoria Falls and consists of a roller-compacted-concrete gravity arch dam 181 m high that impounds a reservoir with a catchment area of 508,000 km2. The site features two underground powerhouses, one on each river bank, each with a capacity of 800 MW.
Quaynor urged coordination between the country’s Reserve Bank and the business community to bolster the foreign exchange environment. He said this would unlock further opportunities for private sector investment. “The African Development Bank would like to deepen our work in the private sector overall, and specifically with respect to investments in economic corridor transport and logistics infrastructure,” he said.
