Friday, March 29, 2024

Zambia is spending US$ 13.4 million dollars a month to import power-Siliya

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Dora Siliya with officials from Indeni
Dora Siliya with officials from Indeni

Energy Minister Dora Siliya has disclosed that Government is spending 13.4 million dollars a month in power imports.

In a Facebook posting after touring Indeni and TAZAMA as part of her familiarisation tour, Ms Siliya said Government is been forced to spend 13.4 million dollars a month on 148 Megawatts imports since October.

She said the power crisis has worsened especially that it has not rained up to now.

Ms Siliya also revealed that she met electricity bulk buyers on the Copperbelt this morning to discuss the power crisis.

‘While we import power and promote solar in the immediate and short term, our long term goal is massive investment in the back bone infrastructure such as the electricity grid and a new fuel pipeline from Tanzania and extended to Lusaka, Solwezi, Livingstone and Western provinces in the first phase,’ Ms. Siliya said.

She added, ‘We are also looking at the possibility of a gas pipeline from Tanzania to Isoka or Chinsali,’

‘It has not rained up to now meaning the hydro power crisis continues forcing Govt to spend 13.4 million dollars a month on 148MW imports since October. We can only find a lasting solution together.’

Dora Siliya at Ndola Energy
Dora Siliya at Ndola Energy
Dora Siliya at Indeni
Dora Siliya at Indeni

10 COMMENTS

  1. Guys, these are just ideas but worth sharing…
    Having lived in these ‘frozen’ parts for close to 20 years now, I have come to learn and understand how and why the British pipo conduct and run their businesses the way they do, how they work and why they have succeeded. These guys NEVER venture into any business undertakings without serious calculations and planning. To them, even if it means ‘killing pipo’ they would, in order to succeed and survive regardless….
    Yet in Zambia, we are endowed with all sorts of minerals, wild-life, sun-shine, good rain-fall etc., just to mention a few but, we are such a poor pipo and country so poor that now, we cannot even afford nsima anymore on the table. Just look at the great Jungles, thick forests, wild bush and the vegetation we have? Look at the…

    • No wonder Dora you are in that ministry, that is where real deals are being cut. Typical of PF style, announcing critical issues on face book.

  2. …number and type of our wild animals including, millions of empty farm land with extremely fertile ‘sandy loamy soils’ that could grow anything on this planet for consumption and sell. Why then don’t we perhaps; obtain another 1 or $2 billion of these so-called ‘euro bonds’ and plan ahead, undertake massive projects like creating huge Safari Holiday heavens in places like Livingstone, Kariba, Luangwa and Kafue National parks and/or perhaps, construct huge Dams/lakes and even ‘artificial seas’ in places like Samfya in Luapula where trillions of water goes to waste every year and thereafter, open up to MASSIVE TOURISIM if what’s going on in the ‘Sham el Sheik’ saga in Egypt is anything to go by and where, millions of British, Russians and all other European Tourists flock to for Holidays…

  3. …every year. Is this some kind of “curse” upon us really? Me I think not!
    The late freedom fighter and firebrand; Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe once suggested in Parliament thus; we should have built what he called then, a ‘Maize Belt’ (like the copper-belt) and to run along the Tazara Corridor (both sides of the Tazara Railway) where we could have been growing MAIZE en-mass from Kapiri Mposhi to Tunduma on the Tanzanian boarder. He also suggested that we should have built an International type Airport at Kapiri as a conduit for Exports of Agricultural produce to the hungry world. Today, Kapiri Mposhi could have been a huge brand new Town with millions of jobs on offer and Zambia indeed, could have been a “food basket” on the African continent because, we could have been exporting trillions…

  4. …of Dollars worth of food to the outside world.
    …Now we have the likes of ba Hon ‘Kapembwa Kambwiri’, are we winning really? Kaya!

  5. SO IF WE invested in power projects we would have been making more than $13.4 million dollars per month for every 134MW of electricity sold to neighboring countries.

    We only managed to invest in by-elections, corruption and greedy bringing us back $000000000 million dollars.

    We must be very SMART people, hey.

    • Lungu and his PF are now thinking about how they can export Satas corruptly constructed roads and earn 13, 4 million dollars a month!

      Not so long ago they were answering critics that told them we cannot EAT roads that it would bring massive development!

      This is the problem with incompetent clowns like Sata. We have BORROWED AND WASTED Billions on something that brings in no money while ignoring HUGE OPPORTUNIES to invest in productive infrastructure.

  6. Kwena to work in a parastatal or govt department is torture – how can I pay homage to Dora, as if I am not a professional enough sure? Awe, shouting yes madam to Dora, sure, with all the emptiness in her head and other parts of the body! Teti mbombe bwino, kupwililika; trying to make Dora understand all the electricity and fuel jargon, for her to spit it out to the media!

  7. Aha! These are the deals she is back into govt for on behalf of Alabi and Henule. Watch the space, they will borrow another $2-3 billion to do these projects even if the IMF says it will be very expensive to borrow on the international markets and have no idea how to pay back.

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