Econet InfraCo has commenced Phase One of a 100 megawatt solar farm development, marking a strategic pivot towards clean energy and grid independence across its assets, according to a report from ZW Climate Brief on X.
The project forms the cornerstone of the company’s planned 800-acre Econet Tech City and is designed primarily to provide reliable, independent electricity for Econet’s Harare operations, including its network facilities and data centres. Once operational, the facility will supply clean power to the broader Econet Tech City development, a flagship industrial hub the company is developing near Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare.
The scale of the challenge driving the investment is significant. An internal review by Econet found that fifty-eight per cent of all network service quality issues originate from power-related disturbances, ranging from grid outages to fluctuations that affect sensitive telecommunications equipment. Chinese contractors have begun installing solar photovoltaic panels and battery energy storage systems at the Tech City site, with battery storage enabling electricity generated during the day to be stored and used during periods of high demand or grid interruption.
Speaking on the project, Econet Group chief executive Douglas Mboweni described it as part of a fundamental shift in how the company powers its business, with the stated objective being for critical infrastructure to operate independently of the national grid for most of the time, using renewable energy backed by battery storage. Grid electricity is ultimately intended to serve primarily as a backup source, reversing the conventional model in which businesses rely on the national grid as their principal power supply.
The solar farm forms part of a wider vision for Econet Tech City, which group chairman Strive Masiyiwa has described as a self-sufficient “city within a city.” Masiyiwa said the site includes a large stream, crucial for water supply, and will utilise the 100MW solar plant, with solar panels for the first phase already arriving from China. The 800-acre development is expected to attract around 300 companies and create more than 20,000 jobs, positioning Zimbabwe to compete with regional technology and industrial hubs such as Lagos, Cape Town, Nairobi and Kigali.
The announcement comes shortly after Econet InfraCo’s listing on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange, with the company reporting in its first post-listing quarterly update that it continues to pursue an energy-as-a-service strategy across its portfolio, alongside expanded use of artificial intelligence for predictive generator maintenance and fuel optimisation. Groundbreaking for both the Tech City development and Econet’s Victoria Falls Lifestyle Villas project is targeted for the third quarter of the current financial year, underscoring the pace at which Econet InfraCo is moving to reduce its exposure to Zimbabwe’s unreliable electricity supply.