Last year, President Mnangagwa announced Rwanda had agreed to help Zimbabwe to fund the rural electrification programme to improve the lives of people residing in the countryside.
The multi-million programme involves nine different projects from generation, transmission and distribution to customer services, ZESA Holdings executive chairman Dr Sydney Gata said in an interview last Friday. "Energy access is a precondition for any development you think of and lighting up rural areas will inevitably accelerate development and economic activities in those areas," Mr Enock Rusere, a lecturer of Development Studies with a local private university said in an interview.Goal number 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals seeks to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all classes of citizens by 2030.
Currently, Africa is the world's least electrified continent with nearly 600 million people remaining without access to electricity, according to the Energy Progress Report 2022 published by the United Nations. To achieve electrification for all in sub-Saharan Africa, investments of at least US$31 billion per year will be needed by 2030.