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NRECA International has been a global leader in rural electrification for more than 60 years. Starting in Latin America in 1962, its pioneering work has benefitted 220 million people in 48 countries.
While the group is best known for the volunteer trips it helps organize to send co-op crews to villages overseas, it also brings international delegations to the U.S. for training opportunities.
In September 1987, three Zimbabweans were among 15 people from 11 countries enrolled in an intensive six-week course on operating rural electric systems. The training sessions was conducted at NRECA's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and at local electric co-ops in Louisiana and Texas.
It was the first time a country in southern Africa had participated. Independent only seven years, Zimbabwe had embarked on an ambitious rural development program. Two-thirds of the country was without central station power.
“People have been leaving rural areas and going to the towns," Thammary Madzonga of the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources and Development, said. “Our aim is, as much as possible, to decentralize industry to reverse that trend."
The other members of the Zimbabwe delegation were Michael Netscher, a manager in the quasi-governmental Electric Supply Authority, and Munyaradzi Mhiti, a government planner.
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The government had designated 48 rural development districts, and the plan was to build a grid to serve schools and industry (primarily gold mines) and nearby villages. But things bogged down because of cost overruns and materials shortages. Also, technical and operational problems had arisen.
“We didn't want to serve the centers just for the commercial loads," said Madzonga. “We want to bring social advantages to rural people as well."
“They threw the doors open to us," Netscher noted, referring to the co-op visits. “There was no hesitation about spending time with us, letting us see how they ran their businesses."
One thing that really opened the delegation's eyes was single-phase line construction. Three-phase is the standard in Zimbabwe, so they were reluctant to even consider it until they saw it in widespread use.
“Some of the things you're doing are too sophisticated for us at this time, but knowing about them will help is grow," Netscher said.
The visitors were particularly interested in how the Rural Electrification Administration and CFC operated. They “give us wider options as we look at our financing," Mhiti said.
“What impressed me most," she added, “was the narrowing of the gap in the living standards between the urban and the rural because of electricity. I hope we can do that in our country as well."
