Eswatini’s Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, Prince Lonkhokhela, has joined regional leaders and energy experts at the Southern African Development Community Sustainable Energy Week currently underway in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
The gathering, organised by Southern African Development Community, is held under the theme “Driving Regional Economic Growth through Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency” and seeks to shape the future of power generation and supply across the region.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Energy and Power Development, J.G. Moyo, officially opened the conference, calling for stronger regional cooperation to achieve sustainable energy goals.
He said energy efficiency across key sectors such as industry and mining would determine whether countries benefit from their available power resources.
“our machinery in industry, in mining and across the entire economy, must be energy efficient, if we are going to realise benefit from the available energy resources in our countries.”
Minister Moyo also spoke about the need to harmonise regulatory systems across member states through aligned laws, tariffs and operational procedures, pointing to the Southern African Power Pool as an important framework for cooperation.
Eswatini’s delegation includes Principal Secretary Ms Lindiwe Mbingo, Director of Energy Ms Thabile Nkosi and other senior government officials.
Other participants include Zambia’s Energy Minister Makozo Chikote, representatives from the SACREEE and officials from across the SADC region.
The programme features plenary discussions, sponsored sessions, bilateral meetings and field visits aimed at strengthening partnerships and sharing technical knowledge. Zimbabwe is also expected to present its Energy Compact, a national blueprint outlining strategies to meet its energy targets.
Key issues under discussion include improving efficiency in industrial and mining operations, strengthening regulatory frameworks through harmonised policies, maintaining conventional thermal and hydropower stations as part of the energy mix and expanding regional collaboration on power supply.
Prince Lonkhokhela’s participation comes as Eswatini continues to pursue energy security and diversification efforts, including renewable energy development and cross border electricity cooperation within the SADC bloc.
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