According to news reports, ZIMBABWE will receive free electricity until March next year from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in return for increased military support to prop up security around President Joseph Kabila.

Under the arrangement, Zesa Holdings will continue to receive 80 Megawatts (MW) from DRC's power utility SNEL but will not be required to pay for the imports under the arrangement.

Instead Zimbabwe will be required to send in more military personnel to the DRC to assist Kabila's security team and this will be taken as payment. Zimbabwe has maintained its presence in the DRC, through a small team that has helped guard Kabila since the death of his father, Laurent Desire Kabila who was assassinated by his bodyguards in 1999.