A 192-Kilometre Power Corridor Could Redraw Zambia and Malawi’s Energy Security

The World Bank has approved a $43 million International Development Association grant for the Zambia-Malawi Interconnector Project, supporting Zambia’s section of a planned 192-kilometre cross-border transmission corridor. The project could widen access to regional electricity markets and reduce exposure to domestic shortages, but its impact will depend on available generation, functioning power-trade arrangements and coordinated implementation across both countries.

A planned 192-kilometre electricity corridor between Zambia and Malawi is moving closer to construction after the World Bank approved a $43 million International Development Association grant for the Zambia-Malawi Interconnector Project.

The financing will support around 47 kilometres of 400-kilovolt transmission infrastructure in Zambia, forming part of a wider cross-border connection designed to improve electricity trade between the two countries. The project could give Zambia and Malawi access to a broader pool of regional suppliers, allowing them to import power during domestic shortages and potentially export electricity when surpluses become available.

The project reflects a broader shift in Southern Africa's energy strategy: from countries attempting to manage shortages independently to electricity systems built around regional cooperation, shared generation and cross-border risk management.

For Zambia, the shift has become particularly urgent after the 2024 energy crisis exposed the vulnerability created by heavy reliance on hydropower. For Malawi, the interconnector offers another route into regional electricity markets and more options for meeting demand. However, the project's success will ultimately depend on more than construction. A transmission line can move electricity; it cannot create power that is not being generated.

Zambia's Energy Crisis Has Made Diversification an Economic Necessity

Zambia's 2024 energy crisis demonstrated how dependence on one dominant power source can turn a climate shock into an economy-wide disruption. Hydropower remains highly exposed to drought and low water levels. When those conditions reduce generation, shortages spread through households, factories, farms, shops and service businesses. Electricity insecurity then becomes more than a utility-sector problem: it affects production schedules, operating costs, investment decisions and employment.

The Zambia-Malawi interconnector offers a way to reduce that concentration risk. By opening another route to regional power markets, Zambia could gain greater flexibility when domestic hydropower output falls. The project could give its electricity system more options. A utility facing reduced domestic generation may be able to purchase power from another part of the region instead of relying solely on rationing or prolonged supply interruptions.

Industrial producers, agricultural processors, service providers and small enterprises can struggle to maintain output when power supply becomes unreliable. More consistent access could reduce disruption, although the project material does not estimate the amount of electricity that will be traded or the scale of any expected economic gains.

The interconnector should be seen as part of Zambia's diversification strategy, not as a substitute for investment in additional domestic generation. Regional imports can provide resilience, but they cannot permanently replace the need for a broader and more balanced energy mix.

Power Without Borders

Electricity systems across Southern Africa have often developed within national boundaries, even though energy resources are unevenly distributed across the region. Some countries may have surplus generation at a particular time, while neighbouring systems face shortages. Without sufficient transmission infrastructure, available electricity cannot easily move to where demand is greatest.

The Zambia-Malawi interconnector is designed to narrow that gap. It could allow electricity to flow between the two countries and connect them more effectively to the wider regional market through the Southern African Power Pool.

In principle, this creates a more efficient system. Countries with available supply gain access to additional customers, while those facing deficits can draw electricity from a wider set of producers. Cross-border trade can also support cleaner generation by giving renewable-energy projects access to markets beyond their home countries.

The project forms part of the Regional Energy Transmission, Trade and Decarbonization in Southern Africa programme, which combines physical grid connections with policy improvements intended to expand regional electricity trading.

Transmission lines alone do not create an effective power market. Electricity trade also requires agreed technical standards, reliable payment systems, transparent transmission charges and coordination among utilities and regulators.

Malawi Gains New Options

For Malawi, the interconnector could improve energy security by providing another channel through which electricity can be purchased when domestic supply is insufficient. Access to more suppliers may reduce dependence on a narrow set of generation sources and give the country greater flexibility in responding to shortages. It could also create future opportunities to trade electricity in both directions if Malawi develops surplus generation.

The connection may help improve reliability for households and businesses, but its benefits should not be overstated. A high-voltage transmission line does not automatically expand electricity access. Power must still travel through national and local distribution networks before reaching homes, farms and enterprises.

Utility finances and affordability will also be crucial. Imported electricity may be available, but consumers will benefit only if national institutions can purchase, transmit and distribute it at sustainable prices.

Regional electricity markets are also vulnerable to simultaneous shocks. If drought or other disruptions reduce generation in several countries at the same time, suppliers may have limited surplus power available for export. In such circumstances, an interconnector provides access to a market but does not guarantee that electricity will be available when demand peaks.

The project gives Malawi more options, which is a meaningful form of resilience. Yet those options will be strongest if they are supported by domestic generation investment, improved distribution systems and financially viable electricity institutions.

From Grid Link to Real Impact

The Zambia-Malawi interconnector is aligned with the two countries' National Energy Compacts under Mission 300, an initiative led by the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank that seeks to connect 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa to electricity by 2030.

Sub-Saharan Africa possesses major energy resources, yet electricity access remains limited in many countries and existing systems frequently lack sufficient generation and transmission capacity. Regional integration can help make better use of available resources. Larger electricity markets may support investment in generation projects that would be difficult to finance based on demand from one country alone. They can also allow clean power produced in one location to serve consumers elsewhere.

However, the route from a regional transmission corridor to household electricity access is not automatic. High-voltage infrastructure strengthens the backbone of a power system, while distribution networks, connections and affordability determine who actually receives electricity.

The next phase of the project will therefore need to be judged against practical outcomes. Key questions include when the complete 192-kilometre corridor will become operational, how much electricity it can carry, where traded power will come from and what commercial arrangements will govern its movement.