The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is seeking to strengthen cooperation with Southern African countries on modernising electricity infrastructure as governments across the region confront growing demand for reliable power, expanding industrial activity and persistent constraints on cross-border electricity transmission.
The agency is hosting a delegation of about 15 public- and private-sector power-sector representatives from Angola, Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia in the United States from 29 August to 5 September. The programme includes visits to Denver, Colorado, and Austin, Texas, where delegates are expected to engage US technology companies, utilities and regulators and examine systems aimed at improving the reliability and efficiency of electricity networks.
The programme includes demonstrations of grid-management technologies, including artificial-intelligence-enabled systems designed to anticipate outages and optimise electricity flows. Delegates are also scheduled to engage US regulators and participate in a commercial briefing in Denver on 1 September, where American companies will present technologies and explore potential procurement opportunities in Southern Africa.
USTDA’s involvement reflects its wider mandate of supporting US exports and commercial partnerships in emerging markets. For Southern African countries, however, the significance of the engagement lies in a more fundamental challenge: improving the infrastructure needed to move electricity from areas of generation to centres of demand.
Data from the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) illustrates the uneven distribution of electricity resources across the region. Some countries have periods of surplus generation while others continue to face supply deficits. The problem is therefore not necessarily an absolute absence of electricity across the region, but the limited capacity to transmit available power efficiently across national borders.
That constraint has become increasingly important as countries pursue greater regional electricity trading. Transmission networks require substantial investment in high-voltage lines, substations and associated control systems, while cross-border electricity markets require compatible regulations, commercial agreements and coordinated system management.
Mozambique and Zambia are already advancing plans for a new interconnector. In March 2025, their electricity utilities signed an agreement to advance the Mozambique-Zambia Interconnector, which is intended to increase transmission capacity and strengthen electricity trading within SAPP. Zambia’s electricity utility has described the proposed infrastructure as involving approximately 375 kilometres of 400kV transmission lines between Mozambique’s Matambo substation and Zambia’s Chipata West substation.
The African Development Bank has similarly identified transmission congestion as a constraint on regional electricity trading. Its work on the Mozambique-Zambia interconnection highlights the potential for improved transmission infrastructure to reduce congestion and facilitate greater participation in regional electricity markets.
The issue is becoming more pressing as Southern Africa’s economies seek to expand mining, manufacturing and other energy-intensive industries. Critical minerals are particularly relevant. Angola and Zambia are participants in the Lobito Corridor, which connects Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito with mineral-producing areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. The corridor has attracted significant international investment and political attention because of its potential to improve regional trade and mineral supply chains.
Yet the expansion of electricity infrastructure raises a broader development question for the region: how can energy investment support domestic industrialisation rather than simply facilitate the export of raw materials?
That consideration is increasingly relevant as African governments seek greater value from their natural resources. Reliable electricity is essential not only for mining but also for processing, manufacturing, digital services and small and medium-sized enterprises. Strengthening transmission networks could therefore have economic implications well beyond the electricity sector.
Botswana’s experience illustrates the importance of regional connectivity. The country has sought to expand its electricity generation capacity while strengthening interconnections with neighbouring markets. Greater transmission capacity could allow countries with temporary surpluses to supply those experiencing shortages, potentially improving system resilience and reducing the need for expensive emergency generation.
The proposed Zimbabwe-Zambia-Botswana-Namibia (ZIZABONA) transmission corridor represents another component of this regional approach. The project is designed to strengthen electricity connections between the four countries, diversify transmission routes and increase opportunities for regional electricity trading. The African Union’s PIDA database places the planned network at approximately 422 kilometres, with an initial transfer capacity of 300MW.
ZIZABONA also illustrates the difficulties associated with large regional infrastructure projects. Although conceived many years ago, implementation has required renewed feasibility, environmental and technical assessments, alongside financing and institutional coordination. The African Development Bank supported further project-preparation work in 2024, demonstrating that progress on regional infrastructure can involve lengthy stages of development before construction begins.
The USTDA initiative therefore comes at a time when Southern Africa is confronting both an infrastructure deficit and an opportunity to redesign how its electricity systems operate.
Advanced digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, may help utilities forecast demand, identify potential failures and manage increasingly complex grids. But technology cannot substitute for physical transmission capacity, adequate investment or effective regional institutions.
For Southern African countries, the central question will be how such international partnerships can complement locally determined development priorities. International technology providers and financiers can contribute expertise and capital, but African governments, utilities and regional institutions will ultimately determine how infrastructure is planned, regulated and integrated into national and regional economies.
A more interconnected Southern African electricity system could improve reliability, support industrialisation and make better use of existing generation capacity. Achieving that potential, however, will require sustained investment, coordinated regulation and a long-term commitment to regional cooperation.
