Zimbabwe Renewable Energy Procurement Technical Assistance Project (WB-P511160)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Zimbabwe
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Apr 22, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Law and Government
  • Technical Cooperation
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Advisory Services
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 1.50 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Oct 5, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Apr 15, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated by the World Bank, the proposed project would provide transaction advisory services to facilitate a credible, transparent, and competitive procurement process for solar independent power producers (IPPs) in Zimbabwe. This follows a direct response to the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) request to expedite the competitive procurement of solar IPPs, leveraging feasibility studies and comprehensive transaction advisory services. The activities will capitalize on the foundations laid by earlier support of World Bank to develop a bankable solar and wind program, namely:

(a) a generation development plan with multiple scenarios,
(b) a variable renewable energy (VRE) integration study,
(c) a procurement framework analysis for renewable energy (RE) tenders, and
(d) a legal memorandum for implementation of RE IPP projects. It will also capitalize on the Zimbabwe's National Integrated Energy Resource Plan, which is presently being developed by the government.

The aim is to streamline and enhance the procurement process, ensuring it meets international best practices for transparency and competitiveness. By doing so, this TA aims to attract and secure high-quality, reliable solar IPPs that can contribute effectively to Zimbabwe's energy mix. The implementation of this TA will involve undertaking of Environment and Social Impact studies for potential solar project sites, tendering, evaluation of bids, and contract negotiations to secure the best outcomes for Zimbabwe's energy sector.

The project will play a pivotal role in advancing Zimbabwe's commitment to expanding its renewable energy capacity, ultimately contributing to the nation's energy security, reducing dependency on imported power, and supporting sustainable economic growth. It is envisioned that the standard Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and Government Implementation Agreement (GIA) currently under development would be implemented in this component.

The project will be complemented by the ongoing Bank Executed Zimbabwe Energy Sector Programmatic Advisory Services & Analytics (PASA) - Improving the Fundamentals of the Power Sector and Achieving Universal Access in Zimbabwe (P505550), which aims to support the GoZ to develop and implement energy sector policies and strategies aimed at accelerating energy access, strengthening energy sector planning, as well as improving sector's financial and operational performance. The proposed project will be implemented by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) with oversight from the Ministry of Energy and Power Development (MoEPD).

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

World Bank Team Leaders:

Francis Chibwe - Energy Specialist
Email: fchibwe@worldbank.org 

Juliet Pumpuni - Senior Energy Specialist
Email: jpumpuni@worldbank.org 

Patrick Thaddayos Balla - Senior Energy Specialist
Email: pballa@worldbank.org 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To submit an information request for project information, you will have to create an account to access the Access to Information request form. You can learn more about this process at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information/request-submission

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. Information on how to file a complaint and a complaint request form are available at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org/how-to-file-complaint

How it works

How it works