Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema believes the country’s power generation needs to be doubled in order to grow the economy.
A recently released National Development Plan and Green Paper aim to accomplish this feat by 2030.
The country, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, has an electricity generation capacity of 3,500 megawatts and signed a $2 billion (£1.6 billion) solar plant deal with the United Arab Emirates last month.
“We were only able to invest in 3,500MW in 57 years. This means we were sleeping on the job “President Hichilema made the remarks on Wednesday after commissioning a 33MW solar power plant in the northern town of Kitwe.
According to the CEO of Zambia’s power supplier, Copperbelt Energy Corporation, the country has the potential to become a regional power trade hub.
“Our energy resources should earn us a lot more much-needed foreign exchange and help power employment of more of our youths across various value chains,” said Owen Silavwe.
How is it that from our Independence in 1964, we’ve only managed to invest in 3500MW of #energy? We can’t develop without electricity. Your govt is pushing to meet our domestic energy needs & earn forex from the surplus generated. This is #WhatChangeLooksLike. #ZambiaRising pic.twitter.com/KapDzxPTxg
— Hakainde Hichilema (@HHichilema) February 15, 2023
