With Zimbabwe scurrying to manage the power crisis that threatens to tank the entire economy, ZESA and the Minister of Energy have been working hard to prepare the general populace for a tariff hike.

Currently the cost of each kilowatt-hour costs around $9.83 ZWL. This is because while everyone has moved on from the old 1:1 regime where the bond was equal to the USD, ZESA hasn’t. They need permission from the government to do so.

So far the authorities have refused to budge the theory being that a tariff hike would be inflationary. ZESA wants the cost increased from the current levels to around $1 per kilowatt-hour.

Now might be the time to do it

According to reports, ZESA and Eskom are close to reaching a deal that will see ZESA import electricity from the South African power utility to reduce the current shortfall that Zimbabwe is facing.

Now would be the perfect time to introduce a hike. You see with most people experiencing massive load shedding they haven’t been spending much on electricity anyway because power only comes on late at night.

If a hike is introduced and load shedding is reduced because of power imports people are less likely to complain. A hike any other time would likely be inflationary and unpopular.