Zambia and Zimbabwe are ramping up efforts to secure investment for the long-delayed US$5-billion (R91-billion) Batoka Gorge hydropower project, as they revive a controversial plan to source water from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Zambezi River Authority — a joint venture between the Southern African nations that maintain the Kariba Dam complex — formed a team that will court investors in the proposed 2.4GW facility that lies near World Heritage site Victoria Falls, CEO Munyaradzi Munodawafa said.

“The resource mobilisation effort is targeting a time frame of 12 to 18 months, subject to investor confidence, market conditions and ongoing bilateral support from the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe,” he said in an e-mailed response to questions.

Work on the Batoka Gorge project had been scheduled to start in 2020, before being delayed by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and difficulties in securing funding. Last year, Zambia announced its withdrawal from a 2019 contract previously awarded to General Electric and Power Construction of China, citing irregular procurement methods.

The two countries previously set a deadline of selecting new bidders by September this year. Efforts to raise funding face further obstacles: both Zambia and Zimbabwe are currently in debt distress, with Zimbabwe owing $21-billion to creditors and Zambia still finalising a restructuring after defaulting on its loans five years ago.

“It may be very expensive to mobilise for both countries,” said Prosper Chitambara, a Harare-based economist. “The costs will be on the high side given the debt distress both Zambia and Zimbabwe are facing.”

Challenges

To bolster Kariba’s capacity and counter the effects of erratic rainfall, the two nations are also weighing a plan to divert as much as 16 billion cubic metres of water annually from the Congo River. While that might stabilise inflows into Kariba, challenges remain, including the high energy demands of pumping water uphill and topographical constraints.

“Detailed feasibility studies, including technical, environmental and economic assessments, will further guide the determination of implementation time lines and cost estimates,” Munodawafa said. Passive gravity-fed or canal systems are being considered as alternatives to energy-intensive pumping.

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Inflows into Lake Kariba, the world’s largest dam, have dwindled because of El Niño-induced droughts, threatening energy reliability in the two mining-intensive nations. Both countries have also, on a regular basis, drained the dam by exceeding their allocations from the authority of how much water they are permitted to put through the power turbines.

The lake currently supplies about half the electricity needs for both countries.

“Regarding funding, climate-related financing mechanisms are being explored,” Munodawafa said.

Experts have previously cast scepticism on a suggestion by a Zambian official six years ago that water could be fed from the Congo River — the world’s second-biggest river by volume — to the source of the Zambezi River in north-western Zambia via canals. The Zambezi is the main source of water for the Kariba dam. — Godfrey Marawanyika, with Desmond Kumbuka, (c) 2025 Bloomberg LP

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