Techzim

Zimbabwe and regional technology news and updates


iPhone’s new feature charges phone slowly when the grid uses ‘dirty’ energy like Hwange coal energy

I do not know where you stand on the whole climate crisis issue. There seem to be two camps and they won’t allow anyone to straddle the line. It’s either the world will end in 2050 or the whole climate crisis story is a hoax. Pick a side. Now, those on the ‘mother Earth will […]


New Hwange Unit 7 set to add 300MW to the national grid, time to embrace coal?

Humans are built to adapt and we are really good at it. I think the Zimbabwean is particularly excellent at this. There is no point in mourning over what won’t change no matter how much you murmur and complain. Hence why we no longer bat an eye at rolling 16-hour blackouts.  The electricity situation has […]


Zimbabwe’s unreliable electricity supply makes it the biggest adopter of solar systems in Africa

Zimbabwe’s electricity situation has not changed much. Our total power generation output is currently just over 25% of the national demand. Load shedding has been a way of life for decades in the country and those who can afford it either have backup power solutions or have switched to alternative forms of power. In a […]


New houses now required to have solar geysers: Our electricity problems are solved, right?

In another case of the government treating symptoms instead of the disease, all new housing units are now required to install solar geysers according to a report by the Sunday News. This new push is said to be part of the government’s efforts to institute the National Renewable Energy Policy and this message was delivered […]


Meikles Hotel’s 5-star bucket bath & the uncomfortable convo about the ZESA power monopoly

I have been saying “this is the strangest thing I have ever seen” too often here lately. Every time I say it I think, “Well, this can’t be topped” but Zimbabwe has a way of bringing up something new to better what has come before. I am sure we have all seen the circular from […]


TECHNIKARI: ZESA’s strength is TRANSMISSION infrastructure, not power generation with DPA CEO Norman Moyo

On this episode of Technikari, I was joined by Norman Moyo the CEO of the Econet Group subsidiary that Strive Masiyiwa said would be bigger than Liquid Intelligent Technologies and Econet Wireless – Distributed Power Africa (DPA). We discussed the state of power generation in Africa with a particular focus on the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply […]


Cassava’s solar subsidiary DPA & France’s EDF extend energy partnership in SA

Distributed Power Africa (DPA), a subsidiary of Cassava Technologies, and Électricité de France (EDF), a world-leading electricity company, have entered into a partnership to develop hybrid energy solutions for businesses in South Africa. Through a 50% shareholding in DPA operations in South Africa, EDF will fuel the development of distributed energy solutions, starting with a […]


SA EV company Agilitee has brought its electric scooters to Zim

South African-based car manufacturer Agilitee which is set to bring a new range of electric vehicles to Zimbabwe as well as set up an assembly plant, has delivered its first consignment of electric scooters in Harare. The Scooter which is called the Agilitee LoadEx and we took a trip to Agilitee/ZimTorque’s offices in Harare to […]


Telco at ZITF 2022: solar equipment, internet packages & mobile computer lab

Renewable energy and internet connectivity were what defined Telco at ZITF 2022. The company, which is one of the oldest internet service providers, brought all it has to offer to this year’s edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair. The team that Telco sent to ZITF 2022 was kind enough to give us a tour […]


Bye-bye ZESA, partial to fully off-grid solar prices in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) has a large role to play in the economy because without electricity a number of things that we use can’t function especially in the digital age. Over the last couple of decades, ZESA has fallen short of the power demand, so much so that Zimbabweans have adopted alternative energy […]


Zim bound car maker says it has developed a self-charging electric car

Agilitee is a name that the Techzim faithful will be familiar with because towards the middle of last year the South African-based car manufacturer announced that it was going to be building an assembly plant for electric vehicles in Zimbabwe. Well… the company is back in the news again saying that it has launched what […]


A Kenyan startup is converting buses to run on electricity

Opibus is a Kenyan-Swedish startup that is converting conventional internal combustion engine vehicles to run on battery power. The company has a wide range of conversions ranging from a Land Cruiser 70-Series and motorcycles all the way to electric buses. It is the latter that is the key here because transport (cars trains, freight, planes […]


Sun Exchange’s US$1.4 mil crowdfunded solar project in Marondera goes live!

Sun Exchange, the global solar leasing platform that enables anyone, anywhere to own and earn income from solar assets in emerging markets, today announced the 510 kWp + 1MWh solar-plus-storage installation to power Zimbabwean agriculture leader, Nhimbe Fresh, has started generating electricity. Sun Exchange previously completed the crowdsale for the project, with approximately $1.4 million […]


UN approves Zimbabwe’s US$45 mil renewable energy programme

The United Nations (UN) SDG-Fund has approved Zimbabwe’s US$45 Million programme on catalysing investments in Renewable Energy (RE) for the acceleration of the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country. The UN SDG-Fund is contributing US$10 Million to the programme whilst the Government of Zimbabwe through the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe […]


Zim founded car maker is making the shift to electric vehicles in 2022

Mureza Auto, a South African-based Zimbabwean-founded car maker has announced that it will be making the plunge to electric vehicles starting from 2022. We are happy to announce our plans to go full electric in 2022. This will start with our T1 (T-One) Concept which will ride on the AEV01 modular platform developed in partnership […]


Cassava Technologies’ solar subsidiary to power Africa Data Centres’ SA facilities

Africa Data Centres has appointed Distributed Power Technologies (formerly Distributed Power Africa DPA) to provide renewable solar energy and storage solutions for its data centres across South Africa. The partnership will begin with the deployment of renewable energy generation facilities to meet the more than 10 MW power requirements at Africa Data Centres’ Cape Town […]