Energy and Power Development Minister Julai Moyo used Nigeria’s Oil & Gas Energy Week in Abuja to say Zimbabwe would prioritize gas development in Muzarabani. He positioned the resource as a cornerstone for industrialisation, power generation and regional integration.
Gas-first in Muzarabani, backed by sovereign capital
Moyo told CNBC Africa that government policy will prioritise gas development ahead of oil in the Muzarabani area, where exploration has confirmed the presence of both resources. This gas-first approach reflects a desire to bring a flexible, quickly deployable fuel to market. It can support power generation, fertiliser output and household energy use.
Australian explorer Invictus Energy has led exploration drilling in the Cabora Bassa Basin. Invictus Energy’s project secured a landmark production-sharing agreement with the Zimbabwean government via its local partner Geo Associates in May 2024. This marks a major step towards commercialising the Muzarabani gas discovery. The production-sharing framework gives investors fiscal and regulatory stability while offering the state a clear long-term share of project economics.
Moyo framed Muzarabani as a catalyst for broader industrial policy rather than a standalone export play. Gas is expected to feed power plants, ammonia and fertiliser facilities, and domestic LPG-type solutions. This embeds hydrocarbons into Zimbabwe’s beneficiation and industrialisation agenda. It also aligns with recent moves to expand liquefied petroleum gas infrastructure, including the National Oil Infrastructure Company’s upgrade of the Ruwa depot. The Ruwa depot upgrade increased LPG storage and handling capacity.
The minister stressed that Zimbabwe wants to learn from Nigeria’s decades of hydrocarbons experience rather than repeat familiar pitfalls. That includes shaping downstream markets early and using gas to anchor industrial clusters, rather than allowing raw resource exports to dominate. For investors, this signals a policy environment increasingly focused on integrated value chains and domestic demand visibility.
On capital structure, the article notes financing arrangements including sovereign, foreign and domestic capital aimed at sharing risk, anchoring projects in local markets and creating a more durable ownership base.
Early gas-to-power and a regional integration play
Execution now moves from exploration to early monetisation. A memorandum of understanding signed in 2024 envisioned a pilot gas-to-power project involving Eureka Gold Mine, with initial capacity of about 12 MW scalable to 50 MW. For Zimbabwe, an anchor mining customer offers both steady demand and a proof-of-concept for integrated mining-energy development.
At the same time, Zimbabwe is seeking to leverage its participation in the Southern African Power Pool to deepen regional energy trade. Moyo highlighted plans to strengthen regional energy integration, with reporting specifically mentioning potential links and sales to neighboring markets such as Zambia and South Africa. This positions gas-to-power capacity in Muzarabani as a potential contributor to wider regional energy integration. With the country already active in Southern African Power Pool trading, additional dispatchable gas-based generation could strengthen its reliability as a cross-border energy hub.
Nigeria’s experience offers a clear reference for this regional ambition. Decades of pipeline, LNG and gas-to-power development there show how long-term off-take contracts, integrated infrastructure and sovereign backing can underpin investment even in volatile commodity cycles. By signalling a structured Zimbabwe gas strategy that emphasises domestic industrial use, regulated power sales and sovereign fund participation, Harare is trying to give investors the kind of visibility that underpins project finance and equity commitments.
For institutional investors, Muzarabani now sits at the intersection of African frontier gas, sovereign-backed infrastructure and regional power integration. The near-term milestones to watch include Invictus’s next drilling results, progress on the Eureka gas-to-power pilot, and any further disclosures on commercialization timelines. If those pieces fall into place, Zimbabwe’s gas pivot could evolve from early-stage promise into a scalable, gas-backed industrialisation story with regional reach.
