ZESCO cheered for slashing connect fees for SMEs

Wed, 01 Mar 2017 13:18:34 +0000

By SANDRA MACHIMA

ZESCO has been commended for reducing the connection fee for small scale businesses from K2, 404 to K769, creating an atmosphere for unlocking the potential of small businesses in the country, Energy Forum Zambia chairperson Johnstone Chikwanda has observed.

Mr Chikwanda urged small scale businesses to seize this window of opportunity and not get discouraged by the current load shedding being experienced in the country.

He said by extending the gesture to small businesses especially those in peri-urban area, ZESCO was creating an atmosphere for unlocking the potential of small businesses which could contribute enormously to the country’s economy.

The forum also commended the World Bank not only for making this reduction in connection fee possible but also for contributing positively to the growth of Zambia’s energy sector through various programmes and financing mechanisms.

“This load shedding will soon come to an end; therefore it is wise for the targeted demographic group to harvest this rare opportunity which has been extended to them.

‘‘This means that with increased availability of electricity, these small businesses will work longer hours, more efficiently, diversify and achieve better results for themselves,” he said.

Mr Chikwanda said such a positive move could contribute to a reduced dependence on charcoal and thus reduced exposure to hazardous fumes and environmental degradation.

He said ZESCO and the Rural Electrification Authority (REA) remained at Zambia’s cutting edge in their endeavor to attain the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 7 (SDG 7) by 2030.  Mr Chikwanda explained that the goal related to achieving access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.  He said a number of measures and innovations had to be implemented to ensure that when more electricity generation capacity was created, people would still be able to afford to connect if the goal was to be achieved. ZESCO announced that the small-scale businesses could now connect to the Zesco national grid with almost threefold reduction in an effort to provide access to power for all. The power utility company said this was in a bid to encourage entrepreneurship and ensure increased access to electricity for small-scale businesses and low-income groups. ZESCO was targeting 5,000 small and medium-scale enterprises in peri-urban communities and that the project would run up to June 30 this year.