UPND POLICIES IN THE ENERGY SECTOR ARE KILLING MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES.

04th December 2023 in Kitwe.

Three unfortunate things have happened in the last 16 months in the Energy sector under the UPND in power ;

1. Subsidies on fuel have been removed by the new government

2. Taxes on fuel have been introduced by the new government resulting in cost going up.

3. Cost of connecting residential and industrial properties to electricity supply has been increased.

The impact of these bad decisions by government on Micro , Small and Medium Enterprises ( MSME) is that the cost of doing business in Zambia has effectively gone up.

My suggestions to government is to do the following ;

1.1 Call for an Energy Indaba to seek advice from sector players on how to resolve these challenges.

2.1 Abandon the path of getting advice from IMF on the implementation of high tariffs for electricity aswell as higher cost of fuel.

3.1 Develop a Strategy Paper on providing incentives to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

4.1 Immediately stop the exportation of over 400 Megawatts of Power by ZESCO to neighbouring countries to reduce local hours of load shedding.

Christopher Kang’ombe
Kamfinsa MP &
PF National Youth Chairperson
04.01.2023

Note: The Author holds a degree in Electrical/ Mechanical Engineering from CBU