Zimbabwe’s Biggest Mobile Operator Is Building Its Way Off the National Grid
ZIMBABWE · ENERGY
Key Facts
—The project: Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has begun building the first phase of a solar and battery scheme expected to grow to 100 MW.
—What it serves: It will supply Econet’s core Harare operations, including its data centres and network infrastructure.
—The diagnosis: Econet InfraCo chief executive Fayaz King says the company’s AI engineers found close to 60% of network faults were linked to electricity interruptions, including dips lasting seconds.
—The relationship with ZESA: Econet stays connected to the national utility, but grid power is expected over time to become a backup to its own systems.
—The rollout: Solar systems and long-life battery storage are also being installed across the wider network.
—The target: Management expects the programme largely locked down within six months and power-related network faults below 10% next year.
Econet solar generation is being built at scale in Harare, where the operator broke ground in July on the first phase of a scheme expected to reach 100 MW. An internal analysis found that close to 60% of its network faults were caused by electricity interruptions.
Why Econet solar became a telecoms decision
Econet is Zimbabwe’s largest mobile network, and its towers, switches and data centres all need continuous power. The problem is not only outages but voltage dips lasting seconds, which the grid still delivers.
The company ran an analysis using artificial intelligence across its fault data and found that close to 60% of network problems traced back to interruptions in electricity supply. That is not a network engineering problem, it is an energy one.
The response is a 100 MW solar and battery scheme for its core Harare operations, on which ground has now been broken.
Staying connected, but demoting the utility
Econet will remain connected to ZESA, the national power utility. The stated intention is that grid electricity becomes, over time, a backup to the company’s own systems rather than the primary source.
That is a significant sentence for a state utility to read. The country’s largest private network operator is planning around the grid rather than for it.
Solar systems and long-duration batteries are also being installed across the wider network, not only at the Harare core.
The same pattern as Congo’s copper mines
This is now a recognisable model across the continent. Industrial and commercial users with the balance sheet to do so are building generation behind their own fences.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, copper mines have driven solar installations up an estimated 544% this year, with a 233 MW array and battery storage delivering round-the-clock baseload at the Kamoa mine.
The common factor is not sunshine. It is that a private user can build faster than a public utility can repair.
What it does to Econet’s economics
Diesel generation at tower sites is one of the largest operating costs for any African mobile operator, and it moves with the oil price. Solar plus storage converts that into a capital cost with a long, flat tail.
Management expects the programme largely locked down within six months and power-related faults below 10% next year. If achieved, that is a direct improvement in service quality and in margin.
The risk is execution and financing in a country with a difficult currency history. A 100 MW plant is a large commitment in Zimbabwean terms.
The wider signal for Zimbabwe
When the largest private companies self-generate, the utility loses its best-paying customers and its revenue base narrows further. That dynamic has played out in Nigeria and South Africa already.
It improves the position of the companies that can afford it and worsens it for households that cannot. The grid does not get fixed by the people leaving it.
Zimbabwe’s grid problem in one paragraph
ZESA’s generation depends heavily on the Kariba hydro scheme and the ageing Hwange coal plant. Both have underperformed historically, though the utility came through the 2026 winter without load-shedding for the first time in about two decades. Drought reduces Kariba’s output precisely when demand is highest.
Installed capacity is about 2,950 MW, with Kariba and Hwange averaging around 1,600 MW between them against demand near 1,900 MW. So Econet is building away from a grid that is improving, not collapsing.
No generation licence for the project has been reported. A scheme of this size would normally need one from the energy regulator.
Imports from Zambia and Mozambique fill part of the gap, and load shedding fills the rest. Industrial users have lived with scheduled outages for a decade.
The utility’s tariffs have also lagged its costs, which starves it of the capital needed to fix the problem.
What 100 MW actually buys
A 100 MW solar plant with storage is substantial for a single corporate user, and modest against national demand. It is sized for Econet’s core operations, not for Zimbabwe.
The precedent matters more than the megawatts. If it works, every large Zimbabwean company with a balance sheet will price the same option.
Financing a plant in Zimbabwean conditions
Long-life assets are difficult to fund in a country with a recent history of currency redenomination. Most such projects are structured in United States dollars with offshore elements.
Econet has raised capital internationally before, and its parent has assets outside Zimbabwe. That balance sheet is what makes the project possible where others would not be.
The artificial intelligence part is not decoration
Network operators generate enormous volumes of fault data and have historically struggled to attribute causes across it. Pattern analysis across that dataset is a genuine use for the technology.
Finding that close to 60% of faults trace to power supply reframed a network problem as an energy one, and redirected capital accordingly.
That is the useful version of this technology in an African operating context: not customer-facing novelty, but working out where the money is actually leaking.
What to watch next
The first marker is first power from the Harare plant and the capital cost disclosed against it. The second is whether the fault rate actually falls below 10%.
The third is whether Econet ever sells surplus power into the grid, which would require a tariff framework Zimbabwe does not currently have.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Econet building?
A 100 MW solar and battery power scheme to supply its core Harare operations, including data centres and network infrastructure.
Why is a mobile operator building a power plant?
An internal analysis found that close to 60% of Econet’s network faults were caused by interruptions in electricity supply.
Will Econet leave the national grid?
No. It remains connected to ZESA, but grid power is expected over time to serve as a backup to the company’s own systems.
What is the target?
Management expects the programme largely locked down within six months and power-related network faults below 10% next year.
Is this happening elsewhere in Africa?
Yes. Copper mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo have driven a similar build-out, including a 233 MW solar and battery plant supplying baseload power at Kamoa.
Connected Coverage
The same pattern in Congolese mining is covered in copper mines building their own power stations, Zimbabwe’s currency position in the ZiG and Zimbabwe’s gold reserves, and the continent’s access gap in the 600 million Africans still without power.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
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