The Sunday Mail
. . . Power outages likely to affect activity
. . .Encourages private sector participation
THE rolling power outages affecting households and local industry are likely to affect local economic activity, making positive economic growth unlikely, a report from stockbrokers MMC Capital Research said Tuesday.
Already, Treasury has reviewed this year’s economic growth estimate from 3,5 percent to 1,5 percent.
However, epileptic power supplies are expected to further weigh on growth.
MMC Capital claimed in their weekly report that the active participation of the private sector was likely to bridge the 55 percent energy demand gap.
The country requires an estimated 2200MW but is currently generating 980 MW.
“Without adequate and affordable energy, the wings to propel economic growth will be clipped. The obtaining acute power shortages in Zimbabwe have put the economy, once again, in a precarious spot.
“The majority of companies in Zimbabwe are now in limbo as they are being forced to incorporate additional costs of using alternative energy sources into their costing structure, hence worsening the competitive edge of the local companies relative to regional peers,” said MMC Capital.
