VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE \u2014\u00a0Zimbabwe and Zambia are holding a summit this week in Victoria Falls to identify ways to attract investors for energy projects and development. The talks come as the neighbors experience their worst recorded drought, which is drying up the Kariba Dam reservoir and causing hourslong power cuts. Speaking at the inaugural Zimbabwe-Zambia Energy Projects Summit, officials from both countries said depending so heavily on hydropower leaves them vulnerable to lengthy lapses in electricity. Recently, power outages reached 20 hours. They say they want to increase investment in wind and solar energy generation. Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said Zimbabwe and Zambia are well-positioned to benefit from solar and wind power. “In particular, the potential for solar energy is highly promising,\u201d Chiwenga said. \u201cBoth Zimbabwe and Zambia enjoy abundant sunlight throughout the year. This is the only asset on this Earth we do not pay for. So, let\u2019s use it.\u201d With investments, he said, building large-scale solar farms could generate power not only for local consumption but also to export to neighboring countries. “These initiatives will not only enhance our national energy security but also position both nations as key players in the regional energy market,\u201d he said. Zimbabwe and Zambia have started exploring floating solar projects on Lake Kariba. The hydroelectric dam there was built during the colonial era, but an El Nino-induced drought has left the dam with about 2% of its water, resulting in hourslong power cuts in both countries. Zambian Energy Minister Makozo Chikote said that Zambia hopes to buoy its push into renewable energy with money from increased copper production. He announced a target of 3 million metric tons of copper to be produced annually in Zambia by 2035. “We are at a critical juncture in our countries: energy and mining sectors,\u201d he said. \u201cThe demand for electricity and resources continues to grow, and it is imperative that we adopt strategies to meet the challenges head on.\u201d Chikote referenced the current drought, which has left the reservoir at a historic low, saying, \u201cOverdependence on hydro has exposed the vulnerability of the energy in … Zambia.\u201d The countries are looking to the West for potential investors. Jobst von Kirchmann, European Union ambassador to Zimbabwe, said that investors want predictability in legislation and the courts, but especially in monetary policy. \u201cZimbabwe is now running a monetary policy which is a multicurrency policy, but then if someone goes out and says, \u2018We should abandon the dollar; we should go back to mono-currency,\u2019 that\u2019s a killer for investment,\u201d he said. Some elements in Zimbabwe\u2019s ruling ZANU-PF party have been calling for the abandonment of the dollar, which the country has been using since 2009, together with other currencies. John Humphrey, British trade commissioner for Africa, echoed the call for stability. \u201cWhen we are in the renewable sector, it\u2019s not just about five or 10 years,\u201d he said. \u201cActually, you are looking at a much longer period. So, in order to be able to make those sorts of investments, you really have to feel like you are operating in a predictable and stable environment. \u201cMoney is like water,\u201d Humphrey said. \u201cIt goes where it is easy, and if you put something in its way, it just flows somewhere else.\u201d The meeting ends Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE \u2014\u00a0Zimbabwe and Zambia are holding a summit this week in Victoria Falls to identify ways to attract investors for energy projects and development. The talks come as the neighbors experience their worst recorded drought, which is drying up the Kariba Dam reservoir and causing hourslong power cuts. Speaking at the inaugural Zimbabwe-Zambia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":495,"featured_media":25511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/495"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobbinghood.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}