CAPE TOWN – Zimbabwe is on track to achieve energy self-sufficiency within the next three years, with a combination of aggressive generation refurbishment, regional import flexibility, and captive power initiatives set to eliminate the need for electricity imports, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Speaking at the Mutapa Mining Indaba Symposium in Cape Town, Mutapa Investment Fund Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Simba Chinyemba delivered a confident assessment of the country’s power trajectory, revealing that a coordinated strategy across generation, distribution, and alternative energy is rapidly closing the supply gap.
“A lot is being done,” Chinyemba said. “We are refurbishing Hwange Units One to Six, then we add another 600 megawatts. We’re also improving distribution in the country in order for us to take advantage of many of the power projects coming up in the region around us so that when we have a deficit, we can import that power.”
He then issued a decisive projection. “I don’t see Zimbabwe importing any energy, any electricity for that matter, within the next three years. I think we will actually manage to stabilise that.”
The confidence is underpinned by the fact that ZESA Holdings, the national power utility, sits directly under the Mutapa Investment Fund portfolio. With a mandate to unlock value across state-owned enterprises, Mutapa is positioning energy security as a foundational pillar for industrial growth under Vision 2030.
Chinyemba’s forecast aligns with ZESA’s publicly stated targets. In January 2026, ZESA Holdings Acting Chief Executive Officer Engineer Cletus Nyachowe outlined a definitive roadmap before delegates at the Energy Transformation Indaba in Gweru.
“ZESA intends to end power imports by 2026, clear all connection backlogs by 2027, initiate net power exports by 2028, provide a public lighting system by 2029, and complete universal access to electricity and data by 2030,” Nyachowe stated.
This timeline confirms that the utility itself is working to a schedule that renders power imports obsolete within the calendar year, a full three years ahead of Chinyemba’s outer projection.
Generation Expansion: Thermal, Solar and Beyond
Multiple generation projects are advancing in parallel to deliver this target.
On the thermal front, ZESA has unveiled plans to develop four new thermal power units, tentatively named Hwange 9, 10, 11, and 12. While the names reference the existing Hwange facility, Eng. Nyachowe clarified that the later units may be sited elsewhere to optimise coal reserves and grid efficiency. This expansion builds on the recent commissioning of Hwange Units 7 and 8, which added 600MW to the national grid.
Simultaneously, Zimbabwe is pursuing an ambitious renewable energy agenda. The government will commence construction of a 600MW floating solar plant on Lake Kariba in the second quarter of 2026, with the first phase targeting 150MW. The US$650 million project, backed by a US$4.4 million Afreximbank feasibility study, is designed to reduce dependence on hydropower vulnerable to climatic variability.
Chinyemba acknowledged the critical role of development finance in accelerating these projects. “There are many funding initiatives that are currently planned,” he said, acknowledging the presence of financing partners in the room.
Demand Surge and the Captive Power Imperative
The urgency of this expansion is driven by projections that Zimbabwe’s mining sector will record a sharp 40% increase in electricity demand between 2026 and 2030. With new lithium projects, the US$1.5 billion Dinson Iron and Steel plant at Manhize, and expanded smelting and refining capacity, peak demand is expected to exceed 3,000MW.
To address this, the government has implemented a policy requiring large-scale miners, particularly ferrochrome producers, to establish their own captive power plants by 2026. This shared-responsibility model relieves pressure on the national grid while enabling industrial expansion.
“We recognise that the mining sector is growing, particularly with the coming of the lithium mines. The demand for power has surged phenomenally,” Energy and Power Development Minister Edgar Moyo said when announcing the policy. “As the government, we cannot adequately provide power alone; we need to do it with the private sector.”
Chinyemba reinforced this approach. “Even high-energy users are being encouraged to look at alternative energy sources,” he said. “So, in my view, there is going to be more than enough energy to support the growth projections that we currently have.”
A Coherent, Fund-Led Strategy
The significance of Chinyemba’s assurance lies in his institutional position. As Chief Investment Officer of the Mutapa Investment Fund, he oversees ZESA as a portfolio entity. His confidence reflects not optimism in isolation, but visibility over a coordinated, fully funded execution plan spanning generation refurbishment, transmission upgrades, regional integration, and private sector participation.
With ZESA targeting import cessation by 2026, major generation projects entering construction, and industrial consumers mandated to contribute their own supply, the trajectory toward energy self-sufficiency is now clearly mapped.
For investors at the Mining Indaba assessing Zimbabwe’s capacity to power its next wave of mine development, Chinyemba’s message was unequivocal: the deficit is closing, funding is progressing, and within three years, the national grid will stand on its own.
