SA executive says Zambia provides an example to his country on what to do to fix electricity disaster
By Angela Moonga
South Africa’s energy analyst and EE Intelligence managing director Chris Yelland has urged other African countries to emulate Zambia after the country launched a sovereign finance transaction using a $600 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB), to buy back its $1.36 sovereign bonds
Writing in South Africa’s Daily Investor, Yelland stated that Zambia was using that Zambia was using $600 from AfDB, together with its own resources, to buy back its expensive $1.36 billion sovereign bonds.
He stated that in return, Zambia has committed up to $275 million over 15 years to a Grid Resilience Programme aimed at strengthening and modernising its electricity distribution network.
The Grid Resilience Programme will be coordinated by GreenCo Power Services, part of the Africa GreenCo Group.
He stated that his own country South Africa and other African countries could learn from the same.
“Other African countries now have a model to follow – a model built from within the continent rather than imported into it. This has significant implications for Zambia. Firstly, the country will have more money for the power sector. Instead of scarce government funds being used to service expensive debt, some of that fiscal pressure is relieved,” Yelland stated. “This creates room for investment in electricity infrastructure that would otherwise have to compete for a shrinking budget.”
He stated that Zambia would benefit from a stronger distribution network, as the focus was not on building power stations, but on strengthening the distribution system, the part of the network closest to the customer.
“That means fewer bottlenecks, lower
https://dailyrevelationzambia.com/sa-executive-says-zambia-provides-an-example-to-his-country-on-what-to-do-to-fix-electricity-disaster/