Hyperdrive
Tesla Batteries Are Keeping Zimbabwe’s Economy Running
- Mobile money is dominant in country with 18-hour power outages
- Econet installing Tesla Powerwall batteries at base stations
Photographer: Cynthia R. Matonhodze
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Zimbabweans are relying on Tesla Inc. to help them pay their bills.
Amid power outages of as long as 18 hours a day, Econet Wireless Ltd., Zimbabwe’s biggest mobile-phone operator, is turning to the Palo Alto, California-based automaker and storable-energy company for batteries that can keep its base stations running. The southern African country faces chronic shortages of physical cash, so almost all transactions are done digitally, and many via mobile phones.