Harare - Zimbabwe will ramp up its electricity imports over the next few weeks, potentially easing rolling power cuts, after it agreed to make payments to clear its debt to a regional power utility, a treasury official said on Monday.
George Guvamatanga, secretary for the ministry of finance, told business leaders in Harare that Zimbabwe had agreed to make weekly payments to clear its debt to a regional power utility, which would start providing at least 400 MW of electricity a month, starting from this week.Guvamatanga did not name the supplier. Zimbabwe typically buys electricity from South Africa's Eskom and Hydro Cahora Bassa of Mozambique.
"Working with the mining sector we have been able to ring-fence adequate resources to pay for at least 400 megawatts of electricity a month." Eskom, which is itself struggling to meet South Africa's electricity needs, had no immediate comment.