Support energy sector, banks prodded

LUNSEMFWA Hydro Power Company Chief Executive Officer, Alpha Mwale has urged the banking sector to hasten financial support towards the growing energy industry.

Speaking during the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) gala dinner in Lusaka, Mr. Mwale observed that the current power deficits facing the region presents a huge opportunity for the banking sector to make an impact and contribute to the growth of the energy sector.

“I want to mention something about the banks. Every crisis comes with its own opportunities, and it is in such times of opportunities that others thrive while others die.

With the way the electricity industry is going, personally I think that the financing industry has lagged. We think that we have gone a step ahead. The way we are conducting business is not the way business used be conducted in the past,” he said.

Mr. Mwale noted that the current model of financing electricity projects based on Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) as a form of security maybe overtaken by the growing demand for electricity.

“Where the industry is going now, the PPA is good, but it can also be a prison because it can lock you from exploring other opportunities. We think that the SAPP market, is enough to guarantee the market for power.

In this power deficit, there should be no doubt that if you produce power, somebody will buy it. We think that the emphasis on PPA was at a time when you could produce power and get stranded with it.

The way things are going now, it is impossible to get stranded with power if you can generate and connect to the grid,” Mr Mwale said.

He appealed to the banking sector to begin to recognise the electricity service industry as a bankable market.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mwale said that there are several energy projects in the country that currently need financial support.