THE Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) says the proposal by Zesco Limited to increase electricity tariffs by over 50 percent for commercial, social and industrial users is welcome as it will attract other investors into the sector.
ZAM president Maybin Nsupila said the electricity tariffs in the country are one of the lowest in the region and the proposal by the electricity company to increase them is long overdue.
Mr Nsupila said in an interview that the association has been calling for increased investment in the energy sector for a long time and is hopeful that Zesco will have competition once the tariffs have been increased.
He said ZAM is also optimistic that once the tariffs have been increased, the power utility will improve its service delivery.
“We hope that once the tariff increment has been approved, Zesco will improve its service delivery because our members want continuous and quality supply of electricity,” Mr Nsupila said.
Mr Nsupila said electricity tariffs in the country have been too low to attract any investment.
He said most ZAM members have in the recent past been facing low electricity voltage and this has made it very difficult for them to operate their respective businesses.
“This is a welcome move and as ZAM, we support this decision which Zesco has made,” he said.
Zesco has proposed to increase electricity tariffs by over 50 percent for commercial, social and industrial users, while residential customers whose consumption is below 500 units (kWh) per month have been spared and will continue paying the current tariff of K0.15 per kilo watt hour.
“We hope that once the tariff increment has been approved, Zesco will improve its service delivery because our members want continuous and quality supply of electricity,” Mr Nsupila said………my question is,why not improve service delivery and then increase the tariffs?
Ati Zesco has the lowest tariffs in the region,,, very st.upid! Just because everyone around you is eating sh.it you should also eat
PF well done this is truly Dochi Kubeba electricity tariffs will be more than doubled once in power and there will be no less or no money in their pockets. PF job well done for managing to deceit the public
Zesco is just rent seeking, just like Lusaka City Council charging people trying to park on the streets. Service will never improve and Zesco will frustrate new entrants by not agreeing to feed-in-tariffs. Zesco know very well that if new entrants come in, Zesco is headed the same way as Zamtel – marginalised and irrelevant.
Very interesting. It is funny how Zambians have accepted anything because of being fed the dosage of power-cuts by ZESCO. ZESCO was created on a socialist mandate and it needs to provide a service to the Zambian public ahead of looking to export. Tariffs should be increased but only for energy coming from investing companies in the sector. ZESCO must maintain its tariff plan. That said, it also very undemocratic to hear Edgar Lungu’s plan of saying different areas will have different power outputs- does this mean that if I live in Mtendere I can never own a laptop or an I-pad because my power output cannot power such devices? This can actually challenged to a court of law.
Hahaha let Zambians enjoy who voted for Pf ,its not political or tribal but this government has failed .
I don’t understand Zambians. Please Please Zambians take take to analyses and understand this proposed tariff increases. The proposed tariffs are very high in will impact on the economy negatively. On average the proposed increase is 216% not the more than 50% being referred to by ZAM who i understand have not analySed the application from ZESCO. Specifically, the proposed increases are as follows:
Residential 200.5%
Services 190.8%
Commercial 184.5%
Maximum Demand(MD)-1&2 244.0%
Maximum Demand(MD)-3&4 175.7%
Please analyse these proposals and offer comments objectively in reference to ZESCO,s reasons for the proposed increment.
Thanks DDK for showing us that these political appointees CANNOT EVEN DO BASIC ARITHMETIC!
So what hope do we have that they are capable of managing the Nations power supplies?
Residential 200.5%
Services 190.8%
Commercial 184.5%
Maximum Demand(MD)-1&2 244.0%
Maximum Demand(MD)-3&4 175.7%
The problems we ate facing now are the same problems which ever party forms government next year will find. Remember we voted PF in 2011 again we change ??. I don’t think changing governments is the solution. There are no short term solutions to these problems. But we are assured of growth because roads are everywhere
And “… because roads are everywhere …” we shall congregate on the roads and cook, watch tv, charge laptops, plug refrigerators and eat in the light-beam of passing vehicles?
@Mambwe: Typical PF Zambian dunderhead!! You can’t even think beyond Roads. In your CRAZY World, you are going to Eat, Drink and even Sh.it Roads!! You are even contemplating SHAG.GING Roads!!
What a breed of Dogs and Ar.ses are running this country called Zambia.
So according to Nsupila, increasing the commodity prices by 100% will also increase productivity by 100%. Then we should also increase the prices of Mealie meal; or Cassava; or Kapenta; or even talk time etc so that we can attract investors in all areas and increase productivity.
Tthis the problem you face when you have Dogs like Nsupila running key industries – they simply dont have any idea that these things have knock on effects. How more foolish can anyone think like that Nsupila Id.iot to think that you can incresae prices of some products and hold prices of others? Fuc.k the idi.ot – Enjoy the result from the PF you voted for!! With idio.ts like this surely the worst is to come.
ZAM president Maybin Nsupila said the electricity tariffs in the country are one of the lowest in the region and the proposal by the electricity company to increase them is long overdue.
Your should also tell people that our fuel prices are the highest in the region.
how can zesco increase rates on a service they are currently failing to provide? if zesco removed load shedding they would immediately increase revenue by 30-40%. this increase is necessary to cover lost revenue caused by load shedding 8hr+/day.
This is what annoys me about the Zambian mindset. We wait for crises to set in and then dig deeeep into some past to justify our actions claiming it is “overdue”. I keep saying those car parks at malls where people are parking for free (some for the whole day) must levy even 5 Ngwee (or sell tokens for 1 Ngwee) if you do not want to charge anything so people don’t get shocked when you suddenly say it was long overdue to start charging.
Zesco should be given conditions before tarrifs are hiked. It has the most uncoordinated, disjointed and inefficient call center in Zambia. A very out of date PR wing and heavily dishonest. A management that does not believe in interaction with consumers. Forward a complaint on any power issue to their senior managers and check out the casual response. The increase in tarrifs may be necessary but this organisation needs to be given to serious private investors, otherwise money from the new tarrifs will go in the drains.
Millers and other manufacturers don’t use charcoal. This means the high cost of production will be past on to the already impoverished Zambians.We should brace ourselves for more HARD TIMES!
COST OF PRODUCTION is the highest and this organisation saying this……really laughable. ..I wonder whats its members think!!
IS THIS MAN IN HIS RIGHT STATE OF MIND.INCREASING TARIFFS WILL NOT JUST AFFECT THE COMMERCIAL SECTOER BUT AFFECT US AS WELL KOZ THE INDUSTRIES AFFECTED WILL ALSO INCREASE PRICES OF GOODS.AM SUPRISED THIS IS COMING FROM THE MAN REPRESENTING MANUFACTUTRES HU AE ALREADY STRUGGLING DUE TO CHEAP SOUTH AFRICAN PRODUCTS FLOODING THE MARKET.THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR IN ZAMBIA IS DEAD DUE TO UNFAVOURABLE POLICIES.40 YEARS AFTER INDIPENDENCE,WE ARE IMPORTING RAZOR BLADES AND BROOMS,AND THIS MAN WILL BE HAPPY WITH PRODUCTION COSTS RISING DUE TO ELECTRICITY HIKES.I HOPE HZ NOT BIN MISQUOTED KOZ WHICH NORMAL PERSON WUD WANT HIS OPERATION COSTS TO GO UP.
Kambwili warn the mines, Kambwili warns the millers Kambwili warns CBU workers , Kambwili warns ZNBC workers, Kambwili warns … What planet does Kambwili live on? Is Syakalima faiir in his description of Kambwili as an educable dunderhead probably yes. Does Kambwili have some ounce of sense? No. Kambwili shut up.
Fuel price in Zambia is one of the highest in the region, so why don’t you use the same reasoning to reduce it you fcuking *****s?
A government spokesman will propagate the government achievements and or explain the government position on collective position on key issues not bull dogging.
The issue is not about tariffs being low but the profit which zesco makes. With good management, zesco can still make profit for residential consumers even at current tariffs. What zesco needs are not high tariffs but better management and removal of bad eggs like the PF cadres whom it has employed
We have been told doing business in Zambia is the most expensive in the region. Will this move make it any cheaper? You have to be careful when comparing with other countries. We generate our own electricity, unlike Botswana, for example, which relies mainly on imported electricity. Zambia has been rated as a very unattractive investment destination by many authoritative international agencies; let’s not make it even more unattractive. By he way, we have heard it over a thousand times before that increasing ZESCO tariffs will attract investment but we have not seen any results. Think thru what you are saying
Maybe maybe he is thinking the new investors in electricity will be his new members!!
I thought Load shedding was as a result of lack of water in Zambezi river, how does Tarrifs come in ? does it mean that if tariffs are increased the problem of Load shedding will disappear? Zambains lets put to a stop this bunch of thieves who are playing with our future. We are not dull. We shall kick out next year with a voters card if you rig we shall use a bullet.
VICTOR MUNDENDE AND HIS FELLOW THIEVES ARE PROPOSING TO INCREASE POWER TARIFFS SIMPLY BECAUSE THE COMPANY IS NOW BANKRUPT AFTER HAVING SIPHONED IT OF ITS FINANCES. LOOK AT THE ABUSE OF ZESCO VEHICLES, EACH ONE BEING FUELED AND THE SO-CALLED ZESCO OFFICERS AND THEIR DRIVERS BUSY ABUSING THE VEHICLES FOR THEIR OWN PRIVATE TRIPS AND BUSINESSES. THERE IS NO FEAR FOR ABUSING GOVERNMENT PROPERTY, AND THERE IS NO ACCOUNTABILITY IN ZAMBIAN GOVERNMENT. EACH ONE DOES WHATEVER PLEASES HIS OR HER OWN HEART, AS LONG AS HE/SHE IS SOME KIND OF A BOSS. THE ZAMBIAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE IS TOTALLY ROTTEN. NO CHECKS AND BALANCES IMAGINE! NO ACCOUNTABILITY, AND NO PUNISHMENT TO PERPETRATORS OF CORRUPTION AND COUNTER PRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR. SHAME ON LUNGU. LUNGU YOU ARE A WASTE!
Stop abusing ZESCO for campaigning purposes. Any increase in energy will have spiral effect on all other services. Increase salaries by 100% water bills by 100% meal mealie by 100, the list is endless and see where this will land us.
I do not support any increment.
..some of these so called CEOs do not even know the unit cost power because everything is paid for by the institution/organisation they work for…such parameters or comparisons do not make sense…if they have to use the regional comparison then they are supposed to compare everything…how much does a teacher or a nurse get in Botswana compared to Zed….ZAM must also look at multchoice rates..Airtel and MTN rates and synchronise with the region rates…if their comparison has to make any sense…..some of the countries are semi-desert hence water resources is scarce mean while Zambia is blessed with plenty of it…
…we are going thru this difficult time as far as power is concerned simply because of selfish breed of politicians we have had since independence…by now each province would have had its own hydro-power station instead of relying heavily on kariba dam…..each time there will be drought this situation will always appear….
…meanwhile god blessed us with plenty of uranium and we have no idea what to do with it…all we needed to do 40years ago when Mozambique gained independence..ofcourse with our help… is to negotiate with them to give us a portion of their coastal line and embark on constructing a nuclear power station…with the help of the Chinese…nuclear reactor require sea or ocean waters as coolant that’s why we may not have it inland….but that requires politicians…
cont’d…but that requires politicians with a long vision…its not too late to start the project for our grand children….
In all fairness 50% increase is too high in a constrained economy. 80% of the work force has been on a wage freeze for 2 years and are literary living hand to mouth ?, how are they going to manage that tariff increase? On top of that the salaries are also very low. Companies can hardly afford to meet the new tariffs because the cost of doing business is too high. So before supporting new tariffs ZAM should think hard about its general membership. Let politicians do there work.
LT, can you please be more factual in your reporting?
These increases are more than THREE TIMES the existing tariffs!
In most countries price increases are in single digits like 5% or 8%. Only with a useless, clueless and corrupt Government like this PF with the drunkard clown Lungu in charge can we get 300% increases overnight!
..if that is what our manufacturers base their pricing of their commodities then we are in maningi trouble….based on rates from other countries..??…no we can do better than that…a price of any goods or services is determined by a very simple basic formula….COST IN-PUT PLUS PROFIT equals to retail price.. period… where as profit is a percentage of the total landed cost….when the goods are delivered to final outlet point like a supermarket in case of buscuits or bread….homes in case of power….which ever way you look at it…nothing to do with regional rates..it will be immoral to pegy profit at 400% of the costs…
I am very happy about this increase. PF is doing very well, Zambians like cheap things, wake up! start working hard.. lazy people and its because of eating nshima, change your diets to rice and potatoes. Can I ask a question, WHY ARE ZAMBIANS LAZY?
@Ziimbabwean:
I am supposed to be the one asking you that question – remember we FEED you!! Dont be too clever!!
THIS IS THE MOST STUPID PROPOSAL I HAVE EVER COME ACROSS IN MY LIFE.
HOW DO YOU INCREASE RATES DURING LOAD SHEDDING WHEN THERE IS LESS CONSUMPTION BY THE POOR MAJORITY.
THE PLOY BY ZESCO IS TO INCREASE REVENUES WHEN THEY ARE COLLECTING LESS MONEY TO PAY THEIR BLOATED MANAGEMENT AND WORKERS. THE INCREASED RATES WILL JUST GO TO ZESCO IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ENTICING NEW INVESTORS. LET ZESCO SEND SOME WORKERS ON FORCED LEAVE LIKE THE MINES HAVE DONE UNTIL THE RAINS FILL UP KARIBA!!
WHICH INVESTORS WILL COME DURING LOAD SHEDDING? LET’S WAIT FOR LOAD SHEDDING TO END BEFORE WE TALK ABOUT INCREASING RATES.
HH AND MMEMBE WILL BE WRINGING THEIR HANDS IN GLEE IF GOVT AGREES TO THIS SUICIDAL SUGGESTION.
Imwe ba UPND, why are you so petty kanshi? Lies will not take you anywhere. The proposed tariffs have given everyone a huge relief, from 100kWh units at 15 ngwee to 500kWh at the same 15 ngwee, what more can one ask for? This means that those customers who are careful with their power consumption will only pay a paltry K75 per month for the actual power! This is of cause excluding the minimal fixed charge and mandatory tax!
If you really think about it, with K75 per month, you can do anything from cooking, lighting and continuous power guaranteed. Its ONLY when you go above the 500kWh mark that you will be required to pay for the real cost of electricity. At this point it means, you can then afford it.
Give credit where it due and thank President Lungu for taking care of everyone in…
PF, can we have an audit of the more than $500 million that has been used on Kariba. You are acting like no money was spent on the place while you want to punish Zambians for its deficiencies which were supposed to be addressed . Mulongoti asked publicly for an explanation of the use of the money but as usual there is no accountability among thieves. You are all dirty thieves in PF.
Its good there have made a clarification on the tariff increment on Residential The commercial tariff is also on a higher side Looking and analysing the exposure of Zambia’s economy to global conditions, signs of recessive economy could have implication on bottom like coupled with the energy needs Its normal to see sectorial profitability and see the impact on Bottom line in cyclical sectors such as energy, materials, and industrials in profit margins and those in defensive medical sector looking at sectorial forward returns
ZAM,the commercial tariff is higher and any further increment may not be good for REVENUE lines for Zesco if consideration to increase…
Mr Jonathan, please take note that you have gotten lost somewhere.
This section is for COMMENTS.
Please take your THESIS to the university professor where it may be read.
No one here is interested in reading it, and no one does! You are just a waste of space.
maximum demand The tariff increment must also mirror global conditions and ensure its not maximised in recessive and mirrors the cyclical and defensive sectors in identity not a blanket increment Understanding the classifications of sectors will be important though to avoid increment on already seemingly higher Tariff on commercial
Its good Zesco has clarified but will need to further justify and buy in clients to ensure revenue protection