STATEMENT ON THE NEW DAWN GOVERNMENT’S ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE PAST 2 YEARS FROM AN ENERGY SECTOR PERSPECTIVE
Monday August 14, 2023
As the new dawn administration turns 2 years in office, I would like to commend them for shifting Zambia to the use of cleaner fuels.
As you may all be aware, sulphur diesel has been outlawed in the country and is not good for health and the environment.
I also want to commend Government for successfully converting the 1,710km from transporting Co mingled feedstock to refined low sulphur diesel, a significant milestone in the cost reduction plan.
Government has also maintained waived Customs Duty at 0% instead of 25% aimed at protecting consumers from higher fuel pump prices.
To this end Govenment has waived about $300m which could have been raised from consumers had this tax not been zero rated.
Another achievement that the new dawn administration has managed to score in its 2 years of being in office is the completion of the commissioning of the remaining units at the 750MW Kafue Gorge Lower using locally raised resources without recourse to the loan with previous funders while funding to Rural Electrification Authority -REA- has reached unprecedented levels by doubling the previous allocation of K360 million in 2022 to K740 million in 2023.
Further, as part of decentralization, local communities have been allocated a significant amount to decide on what to electrify from the Constituency Fevelopment Fund -CDF- allocated amount, which is a notable development.
Government has further signed partnership agreements for renewable energy worth over $7 billion, which is completely changing the energy topography of the country by focusing on other forms of energy. This move is also raising Zambia’s profile as a net energy exporter as more facilities come online.
The above notable achievements in Zambia’s energy sector are welcome and show government’s will to transform the sector. However, the biggest hurdle remains the lengthy and cumbersome approval processes in the energy sector which covers over 3 ministries and are embedded in the Laws of the land.
I am optimistic that this hurdle will be overcome soon as government is working at it so that stagnated projects can be unlocked.
Issued by:
Dr. Johnstone Chikwanda
Energy Expert