Is ZESA’s monopoly finally coming to an end?: Private Companies now allowed to buy and sell electricity.

It all started in the telecommunications industry when StarLink entered the scene ending the monopoly enjoyed by Econet and Netone, we also radical reactions from these companies introducing cheaper solutions something they could have done before be didn’t because there was no real alternative. Now the same strategy will applied to the energy sector, to help end a monopoly with failed service delivery in most instances. Zimbabwe is poised to finally end ZESA Monopoly, as private companies can now buy and sell electricity to citizens. Let’s hope it will have the same impact as StarLink so here is all you need to know.

For as long as i can remember in Zimbabwe when you hear the word electricity all you thought of was ZESA and to this day people use street language to say ZESA is back referring to electricity, such was the dominance it had over people. It reminds me of times when the word beverage was usually associated with coca cola that’s how powerful dominance on a certain niche looks like.

Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) held a monopoly over the supply of electricity to homes and businesses across the nation. That era seems to be coming to an end with the new initiative the government is taking. The government has opened the retail and distribution space to private companies, allowing them to obtain licences to buy, distribute, and sell electricity directly to neighbourhoods.

According to a public notice issued on 24 October 2025 by the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) and the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), this historic policy shift is aimed at attracting new investment, improving efficiency, and ensuring universal access to electricity by 2030. The authorities say the new model will particularly focus on connecting communities that have remained unserved for years.

How it will all work 

The new framework introduces a middleman approach. Private companies will be licensed to purchase bulk power and resell it to specific neighbourhoods. They will be responsible for building infrastructure, maintaining the network, and collecting revenue from consumers.

Explaining the model, ZERA CEO Edington Mazambani said during a recent address to business leaders:
“For instance, you can adopt Cowdray Park and reticulate the whole locality, which is in the upwards of 30,000 (homes). You connect them and get the bulk supply of electricity, either from the utility or a supplier of your own choice, distribute power within the locality, and collect revenue.”

This means communities will no longer rely solely on ZESA to expand the grid. Instead, private operators can create “mini-utilities” within defined zones.

The Scale Of The Opportunity: Hundreds Of “Dark Cities” Identified,The opportunity for investors is significant. 

Speaking at an investor conference earlier this month, ZESA acting Managing Director Abel Gurupira revealed that the utility had mapped out nearly 400 “dark cities” across Zimbabwe. These are fully developed suburbs and commercial areas that, despite being built years ago, have never been connected to the national grid.

“These areas present a huge potential market for new licensees,” Gurupira explained, highlighting the need for rapid infrastructure expansion.This backlog creates fertile ground for private investors to step in and serve thousands of households.

What This Means For Homeowners And Investors

For homeowners, particularly those in unconnected communities, the development promises a quicker path to power. For investors, it opens up a new market that blends energy distribution with infrastructure development.

According to ZERA, private licensees must meet strict requirements. They must demonstrate technical and financial capacity, comply with national regulations, and work with ZETDC to connect to transmission backbones where required.

The official notice further stated that this new arrangement is expected to:

~Improve electricity supply and service delivery.

~Increase access to electricity in underserved communities.

~Lower costs to government by shifting infrastructure development to private players.

~Integrate renewable sources such as solar into the national grid.

While this might be a good initiative, technically there is a problem to this initiative, introducing a middleman to buy and resell all coming from that same supplier doesn’t fix the shortage problems because it’s still the same energy produced just being sold by different suppliers.

To completely solve this problem it needs to be addressed all the way to the supplier allowing power generation from private players as well by building private power plants that is only when there would be true distribution and choices, because without multiple sources using the reseller model will only make the electricity more expensive because of markup put by the middle players with the only upside being faster responses to faults and better customer service since these resellers will be handling few users than the current model.

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