Zimbabwe Faces More Power Outages

Growing electricity shortages in Zimbabwe are compounding the country’s troubled economic situation.

Local business and tradesmen are struggling as power is regularly being cut and sometimes only available during the middle of the night.

According to reports by AFP some citizens have reported having to work between the hours of 2300 and 0400 in order to access power supply, the only time at which power is available.

Load-shedding was recently introduced by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) as a result of the low water levels at the Kariba hydro-power station. Officially scheduled for between 0500 and 1000, and 1700 and 2200 they often extend to 19 hours or more in duration.

The Minister for Energy Fortune Chasi has reported progress in the repayment of some of ZESA’s debts and called for citizens to pay any outstanding bills to the Authority. However, South Africa’s Eskom has denied received money owed and has warned that it will not engage in fresh talks to supply Zimbabwe with additional power without payment. ZESA owes an estimated $80 million to Eskom and Mozambique’s HCB Power company.