Italian investors met with Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa to finalise plans to build a 100MW solar power station in Zimbabwe.

The power station will be built near Gweru by Italian company Convivium Africa. The meeting between Convivium Africa president Dr Alfonso Ippolito and President Mnangagwa took place on Tuesday, to discuss the issue of land allocation for the 250-hectare project.

“The president promised to help us with land because that is the only issue that is left” said Ippolito. “We are very happy with the meeting,” he added. The company said that construction of the power station will begin as soon as the land is provided. The PV power station will be built in two phases of 50MW

The company’s photovoltaic projects in Africa face the problem of land allocation frequently. According to Convivium, for solar projects such as these, the problem is that it is difficult to acquire land that is close enough to a substation and the electrical grid.

Convivium Africa is an umbrella organization which works to implement solar installation in African countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Ghana and Gambia.

The Zimbabwean ministry of finance has guaranteed distribution of all energy produced by local power providers at a fixed tariff which has not been decided yet.

The meeting took place after the Italy-Africa summit on Monday, which is an event aimed at deepening cooperation between Italy and Africa, particularly in the energy and infrastructure sectors.