UNTIL recently Mr Martin Mutava would wake up at 9pm before driving to his shop at Mkoba 6 shopping centre in Gweru to push the urgent orders for his clients until 5am.
Mr Mutava is one of the thousands of Small to Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) in Gweru and across the country who had turned night-time into a normal
working shift due to power cuts.
These entrepreneurs will capitalise on the off-peak night
slot from around 10pm when power was restored by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission
and Distribution Company (ZETDC) before being disconnected in the morning under
a tight load-shedding regime.
Mr Mutava is into welding and together with peers who are
into fields such as typing, printing, photocopying and scanning were losing
business. Others that had been affected by load shedding included those in
upholstery, small grinding mills, furniture and hair salons whose source of
livelihood was adversely affected by the prolonged power cuts of up to 16
hours.
The situation is now different after Zimbabwe recently
increased its domestic power generation following the commissioning of Hwange
Units 7 and 8, which are now both on stream while more output is also being
derived from Kariba Hydro-Power Station and independent power producers.
It is not only domestic consumers who are now guaranteed
power supplies but also industries and farmers are benefiting.
“Life was tough during the load-shedding period, I tell
you. I had turned into a night worker because I would start to work at 10pm
when power was restored and finish at 5am when the power was cut off,” said Mr
Matava.
“I lost many contracts due to load shedding and I am
grateful to the Government for improved power distribution because I am now
back in business full time and working from 7am to 5pm.
Amos Chibaya who is into carpentry said the crippling power
cuts had frustrated many SMEs.
“It’s hard to wake up and go to work from 10PM. There are
robbers to be wary of and working under makeshift lighting was difficult for me
as a carpenter.
“But now we are working normally and meeting targets, which
is a welcome development,” he said.
Mr Tineyi Sibanda, who is into panel beating, said he had
resorted to using a generator, which was not sustainable as the cost of running
it was high.
While it is all joy and smiles for ordinary Zimbabweans and
SMEs, firewood sellers have been hard hit as their business is plummeting
because people are no longer buying firewood for cooking.
Firewood sellers in suburbs such as Mkoba 1, Mkoba 6, and
also those who moved around with scotch carts told this publication that
residents no longer have a huge appetite for their products.
“I would make at least US$20 per day from selling firewood
but now, at times, I go home without a cent. When people have power, they don’t
need firewood or charcoal and that is driving us out of business,” said one of
the traders, Mr Nkosilathi Gumbo.
“I am thinking of looking elsewhere to eke a living because
if the situation continues like this I will definitely fail to fend for my
family.”
In June 2018, President Mnangagwa led proceedings at the
ground-breaking ceremony for the US$1,5 billion Hwange 7 and 8 power expansion
project.
Completion of the project has seen Zimbabwe increasing its
total power output to about 1 500MW from as low as less than 600MW in March
this year.
Power China, which synchronised the Hwange Thermal Power
Station, recently said: “Unit 7 of Hwange Power Plants was officially
integrated into the national grid, adding 300MW of electricity to the national
grid.” Herald
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