Balewa Zyuulu
Opposition Green Party Leader Peter Sinkamba has urged government to provide more incentives to spur private sector investment in the energy sector to prevent another energy crisis, which may affect the economy negatively.
According to the World Meteorological Organization estimation, Zambia, like other countries in sub-Saharan Africa is likely to experience more energy crisis by next year without a proper transition to renewable energy, which can help alleviate growing water stresses because of the amount of water used to generate electricity.
Mr Sinkamba is of the view that over the years, Zambia’s crippling energy crisis was primarily due to low investment levels in a sector that has failed to keep pace with the country’s high growth coupled with severe effects from climate change, including massive droughts, despite bearing the least responsibility for the problem.
And Copperbelt Energy Corporation-CEC- through its Chief Financial Officer Mutale Mukuka says future efforts need to focus on growing and diversifying generation capacity to keep pace with Zambia’s economic growth and bold steps aimed at mitigating immediate effects and longer-term policies to tackle the fundamental vulnerabilities of the country’s power sector.
Mr Mukuka says so far, CEC is repositioning itself by tapping into the growing demand for electricity and maintaining energy security especially in the mining sector while accelerating the transition to net-zero.
PHOENIX NEWS