GOVERNMENT has announced an ambitious target to electrify all rural institutions by the end of 2026 through the Rural Electrification Fund (REF).
The declaration was made by Energy and Power Development deputy minister Yeukai Simbanegavi during her opening address at the 2025 Zimbabwe-Zambia Energy Projects Summit in Livingstone in the neighbouring country yesterday.
Simbanegavi highlighted the critical role played by cross-border collaboration in tackling energy challenges.
Advertisements
“The energy challenges that we have experienced over the years have reminded us that we have veins which knit us together beyond our borderlines,” she indicated.
This shared geography and economy, she argued, makes co-operation essential.
“Through the Rural Electrification Fund, we are targeting to electrify all rural institutions by the end of 2026,” she said.
She added that an REF team was present at the summit to explore available opportunities for partnership.
The government is also prioritising private sector investment to boost the country’s electricity capacity.
Simbanegavi stated that “more private sector investment is expected in the electricity sector”.
To facilitate this, she pointed to reforms implemented by the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency, which launched an online licensing system that led to a 44,8% increase in investment licence issuance in the first quarter of 2025.
The summit, affectionately referred to as the Zim-Zam Summit, serves as a key platform uniting individuals and organisations from across the globe.
This year’s edition is running under the theme Mines and Energy: Fast-Tracking Private Sector Projects.
Simbanegavi acknowledged Zambia’s role as a copper mining hub, a mineral critical for electricity storage and transmission.
The inaugural summit was launched last year in Victoria Falls. -newsda
