Alternative ways to buy ZESA Tokens

ZESA is trending today (1 June 2020, Covid Lock-down) on Twitter, and for a good reason, it is very difficult to buy tokens today, just like the first of (almost) all months. I have personally never come across an explanation from ZETDC as to why this is always he case, but my kindergarten ICT tells me its because of the current system that the guys at ZESA use: the KWh are cheaper with the first purchase/s of each month up to a certain threshold, and the cost rises exponentially with each subsequent purchase, meaning its wiser to buy most of your electricity power needs near the beginning of each month (translating to the first of each month for most of us. 

This means most people try and buy their ZESA on the first of each month, and clearly the ZETDC servers are failing to carter for the increased traffic, and I don't think there is a will to correct this situation because it has been ongoing for a very long time now.

I faced the same problem today when I wanted to buy my magetsi worth ZW$200RTGS (I hope that's

how it's written). Ecocash was telling me my request was submitted for further review or something like that. My favorite application for buying ZESA and topping up most of my accounts, TopUp Zimbabwe (www.topup.co.zw) was even warning me before doing anything that ZESA servers were giving them too many errors and it might/would take up to 48 hours before the issue is resolved. I could tell the issue was big because ZETDC servers were failing to respond back to TopUp.co.zw with my account details after supplying the Meter Number.

I eventually managed to by me Token, and I will list a number of ways one can use to buy, try all the methods, and one should work for you:

1. Ecocash / One Money way

This is the most accessible way to buy electricity as almost everyone is on the Ecocash platform, I don't know much about OneMoney as I have never used it. The steps for Ecocash USSD are as follows:

1. Make sure your Ecocash Wallet is funded (obviously)
2. Dial *151# and enter your Ecocash PIN on the prompt.
3. Select Option 2. Make payment, and then Option -> 7. Regular Payments  followed by -> 1. Pay ZESA then Choose option -> 1. Buy Token
4. Enter the amount in RTGS you wish to buy the token for
5. Enter the Meter Number.
6. Follow all the prompts until you confirm your purchase and you will receive your ZESA Token as an SMS

This is one of the next to impossible ways to buy ZESA on the first of the month! You can also try using the Ecocash Android App.

2. Bank

NMB Bank advertising their essential payments service

If you have a bank account (and yes, there are many people who do not have an active bank account!) and have registerd for SMS / Mobile / Internet banking, you can use your RTGS balance in the bank to buy ZESA Tokens. There are too many banks out there with different ways of doing things, so we cant highlight the method for each and every bank, but I have used my NMB (USSD code *240#) and Steward accounts in the past on the 1st and never had problems.

3. Topup.co.zw (My personal favourite)

Topup.co.zw is my personal favorite because of the way it makes it easy to buy electricity tokens. A simple minimalist interface makes the use of this site a joy. Unfortunately, today I failed to buy using this method because ZESA servers were frustrating the process, but (if you have data) just visit topup.co.zw and try it, today or any other day. 

Payment Convenience is what topup.co.zw is all about.

You can use topup.co.zw for a whole lot more things, including buying your Netone airtime using Ecocash, a challenge for many people. You can even have a shortcut on your mobile device for quicker access the next time you want to use the system, yes, its not a native app, you will still need data to access it, but its very handy.

4. Instapay

After I failed to buy using my favourite method, I then used Instapay. I have the InstaPay app installed on my Android phone, and you can too, just visit Google Playstore and install so you can easily use it the next time, but this time I used the web version, you get it here: https://instapayweb.vas.co.zw/ and its what worked for me today, and a few people I directed there also managed to buy their tokens quite easily. It works in a similar way to topup.co.zw, but I personally prefer the interface on TopUp compared to Instapay web version.

Go ahead, chose a method and let me know which method worked for you in the comments box, and also help with any other ways so we can all benefit.

5. Update 1: ZimPayments

I have also learnt of ZimPayments, and a lot of people seem to have success by using the service found on https://www.zimpayments.com/zetdc. I haven't used it personally, but you can still try it.

6. Ownai

Some people are also finding success using the Econet Owned Ownai which you can find here: https://cs.ownai.co.zw/zesa.php

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Africom Android Internet Settings

I have had problems every time I try to reconfigure any new Android phone using the Africom line. By the way, Africom uses CDMA technology, which is different from the 'normal' GSM lines we are used to, the ones on Econet, Telecel and Netone. A CDMA device, like my current Lenovo smartphone, cannot be used with a GSM line, and the reverse is also true, there a few but major differences that are not in the scope of this post, so I will not delve into those.

Like I said, it has always been a hustle getting to set-up my Android device with the Africom line, and I am sure this has also been an issue for a number of people as indicated by Google's search results. A normal Google search for the configuration for Africom will show you that a number of people have faced the same problem (Google suggests the search terms, showing it is not a once off search item, a bit of Google analytics here, but we will talk about this in another post). Unfortunately all the links I got had no solution on configuring internet settings for an Android phone, with TechZim Answers offering various solutions that are only for the Africom Dongles.

Google suggests the correct terms, meaning a lot of people have searched for this on Google

Every time I have faced this problem I have resorted to calling them, (Customer care number for Africom being 400, toll free from all Africom lines), or chatting with them via their website (And they always respond via both website chat or phone calls, unlike Econet, notorious for not being able to answer most calls to its customer care numbers). Africom is very helpful, try them.

So this is what I got as the solution if you have an Android phone, especially the older ones (Android 2.x etc).

Setting Name	Value
APN Name	Africom (or anything you can remember)
APN	africom
Username	648448644253159@africom.co.zw
Password	africom001
MCC	648
MNC	44
IP Version	ipv4v6
Authentication Type	pap or chap
Prompt Password	#777

These are all the settings you need, anything else leave it as the default. So if you continue facing challenges after this, you can still get in touch with them using their toll free number, if this helped you, leave a comment in the box below so we can help others too.

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