Zambia’s Perpetual Energy Insecurity: Socio-Economic Implications and Opportunities for Renewable Energy Diversification

Perpetual acute electricity crisis in Zambia is not a new phenomenon; it is a decade long cycle of load-shedding and blackouts that continue to undermine economic development. While Zambia’s hydropower infrastructure has aged, inefficient and unreliable, the variables of climate change appear to pose even greater challenges. Hydropower production capacity is declining as prolonged periods of drought intensify and increasingly posing new challenges to the efficiency of hydroelectric. Therefore, it is imperative for the Zambian government to develop a climate resilience and adaptation energy security policy. One that could enable utilisation of alternative renewable energy options resilient to climate change, and promote the implementation of distributed generation to expand the investment base to include small-scale investors.