- Audit firm completes consultancy report on the unbundling of ZESA
- Report awaits cabinet approval
Zimbabwe Government is set to begin unbundling the state-owned utility, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA). This follows the completion of the utility’s audit by Ernst & Young.
In the audit report, the firm recommended that the role of executive chairman be eliminated at the State power utility. ZESA is currently headed by Dr Sydney Gata as the executive chairman. Dr Gata was first appointed to the helm of ZESA in 2000, as chief executive, before becoming executive chair in 2003. However, he left the state power utility in 2006 and returned in 2019, again assuming his previous role of executive chair, which attracted criticism from corporate governance experts.
In what, however, indicates progress in the proposed unbundling of the power utility, Ernst & Young has completed its report on the unbundling, which now awaits Cabinet approval.
ZESA unbundled its operations in 2002 to improve efficiencies and leverage economies of scale. This resulted in six companies owned by a holdings group. However, the Cabinet in 2018 rebundled the utility, noting that the structure had failed to yield the desired results as its implementers of the system did not understand it.