Zimbabwe has introduced a five-pillar strategy – the Zimbabwean National Energy Development Compact - aimed at advancing the development of the energy value chain. This comes as the country expects up to $9 billion in investment across its power sector.

Zimbabwe’s Minister of Energy and Power Development July Moyo offered insight into the strategy during the Invest in Zimbabwe: Investor Briefing at the African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2025 conference on Tuesday. Led by the Government of Zimbabwe and oil and gas company Invictus Energy, the session explored emerging opportunities in natural gas, renewable energy and mining in the country.

“We have significant opportunities in power generation, transmission, distribution and retail. In other fuels, our hopes are that we can not only benefit from the oil and gas that has been found in Zimbabwe, but from infrastructure associated with these projects. As a country that is land-locked, our compact connects us with the rest of Africa,” stated Minister Moyo.  

The five pillars include expanding generation infrastructure; leveraging regional integration; embracing distributed renewable energy and clean cooking solutions; incentivizing private sector participation; and ensuring financially viable utilities that provide reliable and affordable services. The strategy focuses on expanding energy and power access, highlighting key opportunities for investors.

“We are expecting to mobilize $9 billion in investments across generation, transmission and distribution, with $4.42 billion set to come from the private sector. We want to raise access to clean cooking from 38% to 70%, reducing the reliance on firewood and charcoal. We also want to expand the share of renewable energy, including large-scale hydropower from 7% to 29% through the use of mini-grids and small-scale hydro,” stated Isaac Chiridza, Deputy Director: Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Energy and Power Development, Zimbabwe.

There are various ways investors can develop projects in Zimbabwe’s power sector. Cletus Nyachowe, CEO, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, said that “You can join as an independent power producer, under a public-private partnership or you can generate power for your own use.”

There are also opportunities for investors in transmission. According to Abel Gurupira, Acting Managing Director, Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company, “There is a demand for us to ensure that we transport power from our generating stations to our customers. There is also a demand that we transport power within the Southern African Power Pool context, from the south to the north and east to west, because we happen to the epicenter of this power pool.”

Zimbabwe’s energy mix, historically dominated by hydropower, is diversifying with promising forays into natural gas. The country has emerged as one of Africa’s most attractive frontier gas markets, with exploration led by Invictus Energy yielding strong results. The company is advancing development of the Cabora Bassa Project in northern Zimbabwe – one of the world’s largest untested frontier rift basins – which has recently been awarded National Project Status by the government.

“Zimbabwe is not a producer of oil and gas but we hope to change that. We have exposure to a basin long-been recognized as prospective but has recently been unlocked. We drilled the Mukuyu well in 2023, which was ranked as one of the largest discoveries made in Africa. This demonstrated the potential of Cabora Bassa as a basin-scale opportunity,” stated John Bentley, Board Member, Invictus Energy.

Beyond natural gas, Zimbabwe is bolstering production in coal and renewable energy. Coal production is on track to increase by 10.5% in 2025, reaching 6.3 million tons, while developments in solar, wind and hydropower are positioned to enhance power supply and regional trade. Nobert Matarutse, Acting Managing Director, Zimbabwe Power Company, explained that the country is “pursuing two additional units at our biggest power station, Hwange 9 and 10, and thereafter we will target units 11 and 12.”