Zimbabwe businesses looking to solar power as means to cut costs

Harare, Zimbabwe

WITH more than 100,000 solar power systems installed in homes in Zimbabwe, according to government figures, off-grid solar power is no longer a revelation for homeowners. But despite decades of power shortages, companies are only starting to catch on.

Old Mutual Zimbabwe Ltd, the country's biggest insurance and property firm, now plans to install up to 20 megawatts of rooftop solar panels on all its commercial buildings over the next two years to help ease a countrywide power crisis that has begun to drag profits down, company officials said.