`China should help fund energy sector`

CHINA should help fund exploration works in the mining and petroleum sectors as it is an active participant in Zambia’s energy sector, Energy expert Johnstone Chikwanda has said. Dr Chikwanda, who is also Energy Forum Zambia chairperson, noted that China was expanding its cooperation with Africa through various initiatives such as the upcoming 2018 Beijing summit on China-Africa Cooperation.

He encouraged Africa to continue partnering with China within the context of win-win partnership, and that the summit on China-Africa provided an opportunity for Africa to maximise cooperation.

“Many Zambians have licenses through government empowerment efforts but are beset with lack of capacity to lift the tenements to bankable status, and efforts like such will go a long way in deepening cooperation and poverty reduction.”

“The ongoing reforms in the electricity and petroleum subsectors would present enormous opportunities which China could participate in within the framework of smart partnerships,” he said.

Dr Chikwanda said Energy Forum Zambia would be represented at the summit and hoped that China would continue to support Zambia’s developmental agenda to bring more clean energy to the people.

“China has increased its cooperation from $5 billion in 2006 to a staggering $60 billion spread into various funds and contributions in 2015, based on previous summits. And it is hoped that the cooperation would hit an all-time high despite China’s challenges with some of its major trading partners,” he said.

“China is building the 750MW Kafue Lower Gorge Power Plant among other projects has undertaken, and I am hopeful that with prices falling, small solar panels and solar cell phone battery charges would get accessed by many Zambians living in rural areas,” he said.

Dr Chikwanda said China was also producing solar power for boreholes and solar hammer mills which were making a positive difference among hundreds of energy sector related products.