Story by Yolanda Moyo

INDUSTRIALISTS in Bulawayo believe the improved electricity supply in the country is a key deliverable for economic growth as it will boost production, increase capacity utilisation and reduce production costs.

“We are appreciating the improved power supply because it is key in boosting production and service provision. It is our prayer that we continue experiencing that stabilisation. We cannot run away from the fact that it is one of the key drivers of the economy and the past two weeks where additional units have been put into the system are a positive indicator that government is keen and eager on ensuring that the economy runs,” said Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Matabeleland chairman, Mr McKenzie Dongo.

The increase in power supply has had a positive impact on the small to medium sector where most enterprises could not afford alternative sources of power.

“The small to medium sector was hugely affected by power cuts as most could not afford to make use of alternative energy in their production and the reduced load shedding comes in handily in boosting production in the sector and of this is constant for some time the sector will definitely record a growth,” said Zimborders Consortium General Manager, Mr Nqobile Ncube.

United Bulawayo Hospitals, which was consuming 100 litres of diesel per hour to enable smooth operations, is excited about the latest development.

“Power cuts have detrimental effects on the health sector and we had to run with generators in the hospital as big as this one to make sure the hospital runs smoothly. We have theatres, ICUs and paediatric wards that have incubators that need a constant supply of energy and once there are power cuts we ran on generators that need 100 litres an hour and imagine for six hours. This improvement is good for us as we can now save money on fuel and use it for other services,” said UBH Chief Medical Officer, Dr William Busumani.

Improvement in electricity supply is expected to reduce the import bill for the nation.