'Partners and competitors': ZESCO tells the Zim-Zam summit in Livingstone the market is opening to private producers, as ZESA counts 635 megawatts under construction

The third edition of Zim-Zam, the Zimbabwe-Zambia Energy Projects Summit, opened in Livingstone this week with government officials, investors, the two national utilities and private developers in the room, and with the familiar question of how declared project pipelines become financed plants. The Zambian Observer, carrying an ICU TV report, said on Wednesday 4 November that the opening session was dominated by calls for stronger partnerships and more foreign direct investment.

ZESCO's Chief Operating Officer, FitzPatrick Kapepe, told the summit that Zambia has made progress in opening its electricity market to private participation, and that the utility now regards independent power producers as both partners and competitors, according to the report. His Zimbabwean counterpart, ZESA Holdings Group Chief Executive Cletus Nyachowe, argued that strong, well-structured utilities are what bring investment, and that better regulation and reliable payment systems are the foundation of investor confidence.

For a public sector project to take off, you need a strong utility.
— Cletus Nyachowe, Group Chief Executive of ZESA Holdings, at the Zim-Zam summit in Livingstone, as reported by ICU TV and carried by the Zambian Observer

Jason De Carteret, Chief Executive of Solarcentury Africa, put the developer's view: what makes deals work, he said, is the existence of the customer. The report carried no new investment figures or capacity commitments from the opening day.

What is on the table

The organiser, EnergyNet, set out the agenda in a release published in October and carried by Pan African Visions. The summit runs from Tuesday 3 to Thursday 5 November at the Radisson Blu Mosi-oa-Tunya under the theme of how the two countries have unlocked foreign direct investment through connectivity, credibility and cooperation. Copperbelt Energy Corporation is the country host; the release notes that CEC financed the second phase of its Itimpi project through a green bond on the local capital market. ZESA Holdings, it says, reports 635 megawatts of private generation under construction in Zimbabwe and a further 730 megawatts moving towards financial close.

Projects named as informing the discussions include the Lumwana Super Pit and Kansanshi S3 expansions, Chisamba Solar and the Kariba floating solar scheme, with sessions on generation for mining and industry, transmission and interconnectors and the Southern African Power Pool. Zimbabwe's Minister of Energy and Power Development, July Moyo, and Zambia's Minister of Green Economy and Environment, Gilbert Siame, are listed among the speakers, alongside the permanent secretaries Mulele Mulele and Arnold Simwamba and the Industrial Development Corporation's chief executive, Cornwell Muleya. Petrodex is the summit sponsor, with Bowmans and Standard Bank as lead sponsors.

EnergyNet's own framing was that the opportunity is clear and the priority is now delivery. The test of this edition is whether the regulatory and payment reforms the utilities described on Wednesday are enough to move the next round of projects from pipeline to construction.

Sources: Zambian Observer, “ZIM-ZAM 2026 OFFICIALLY OPENS WITH CALLS FOR STRONGER PARTNERSHIPS AND INVESTMENT” (4 Nov 2026); Pan African Visions, “Zimbabwe-Zambia Energy Projects Summit returns to Livingstone for third edition” (Oct 2026).