The Zimbabwe COVID-19 Response and Essential Health Services Project deployed solar panels and solar-powered fridges in medical facilities in 16 rural districts across Zimbabwe. The steady power supply allows local patients to access medical care around the clock and has improved the experience of attending physicians and nurses.

In a landmark development for Zimbabwe’s clean-energy sector, NeedEnergy, the home-grown start-up behind the country’s first virtual power plant (VPP) and energy-exchange platform, has secured a €450 000 (roughly US$486 000) financing package from the Energy and Environment Partnership Trust Fund (EEP Africa).

Zimbabwe is set to train over 10,000 teachers and lecturers annually in artificial intelligence and digital literacy through a new partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as part of a broader strategy to advance industrialisation and digital transformation in the country.

Zimbabwean population needs over a million and eight-hundred thousand (1,8 million) solar infrastructure-related systems to be installed countrywide as safe alternative to resolve possible energy crisis.

The focus on clean energy in Zimbabwe is tied to larger goals of building climate-resilient cities and promoting a green economy. With energy security becoming a cornerstone of sustainable urbanisation and regional stability, renewable energy generation in Zim has a capacity to play a pivotal role in reshaping Zim as a low-carbon growth engine.

The Government says this will be supported by regulatory reforms designed to streamline investment processes, facilitate the adoption of mini-grid regulations by Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and unlock increased private sector participation.

Lack of investment, policy and regulatory gaps, infrastructure challenges high initial costs and limited technical expertise are some of the impediments cited towards future sustainability.