Business

MBABANE – The Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) is seeking to establish local manufacturing plants for smart meters, cables and ancillary electrical products.

This is a move that could significantly reduce the country’s dependence on imports while strengthening domestic industrial capacity.

The power utility has invited experienced international manufacturers to partner with it in designing, financing, establishing and operating two manufacturing facilities in Eswatini, a smart meter manufacturing plant and a cables and ancillary products manufacturing plant.

The initiative forms part of EEC’s broader strategy to secure reliable supplies of critical inventory items while ensuring affordability, price predictability and supply chain stability.

According to tender documents issued by the utility, EEC intends to identify technical and financial partners with proven track records in manufacturing the required products, with the expectation that the utility or its subsidiary will hold equity in the proposed ventures.

EEC said the projects were aimed at addressing challenges associated with sourcing critical electrical infrastructure components from international suppliers.

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Up to E400m spent on cable imports annually

MBABANE – One of the strongest motivations behind the proposed cables manufacturing plant is the significant amount of money currently spent importing electrical cables and related products.

According to EEC, the utility spends between E120 million and E400 million annually procuring cables and ancillary materials from international suppliers.

The expenditure is expected to increase in the coming years as EEC accelerates network expansion and maintenance programmes across the country.

The utility projects demand for cables and ancillary products to grow by between 50 and 100 per cent as it moves to instal at least 8 000 kilometres of last-line distribution network by 2030 under an internationally financed electrification programme.

Additional demand will be generated through routine and emergency maintenance of EEC’s existing 30 000-kilometre electricity network, which has increasingly come under pressure from climate change-induced storms and extreme weather events. Beyond EEC, the company identified several large organisations operating private townships and electricity distribution systems as potential customers for locally manufactured products.

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EEC said the projects were aimed at addressing challenges associated with sourcing critical electrical infrastructure components from international suppliers. (Courtesy pics)

The proposed factory would produce a wide range of electricity distribution products, including ACSR conductors, aerial bundled cables (ABC), clamps, connectors, lugs, ferrules and other ancillary components used in power distribution infrastructure.