South Africa, Zimbabwe and 3 Other African Countries Experiencing Electricity Crisis and Loadshedding
South Africa has been experiencing a series of constant rolling blackouts for the past few years. While loadshedding may have become a norm in the country, Mzansi is not the only African country experiencing an energy crisis.
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The struggle to keep the lights on is not unique to South Africa and can be described as a Cape to Lagos problem. According to the Mail & Guardian, countries such as South Africa, Libya and Zimbabwe had notable planned power cuts in 2022.
Briefly News takes a look at other African countries experiencing their version of loadshedding and electricity problems.
1. Zimbabwe experiences 19-hour power outages
Zimbabwe's energy crisis might be a reflection of what South Africa might go through if the loadshedding is not fixed anytime soon. Zimbabwean citizens experience power outages that last up to 19 hours a day.
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According to News24, Zimbabwe's electricity gets turned on between midnight and 5am each day. This means, most households can only prepare food and or prepare for the next day's activities when the clock strikes midnight.
According to BBC, businesses have been heavily impacted by the power cuts and some have even opted to run operations such as manufacturing at night, when electricity is available.
What is causing Zimbabwe's energy crisis?
Like many countries trying to adjust and move away from coal power stations, Zimbabwe invested in a hydrogen plant to generate electricity.
However, the country is experiencing a heavy drought which means the hydro plant at the giant Kariba Dam has low water levels.
According to MoneyWeb, the Zimbabwean government is trying to remedy the situation by approaching independent power producers (IPPs) and neighbouring countries to help with generation capacity.
2. Zambians sit without electricity for close to 12 hours a day
Zambia is another neighbouring country experiencing rolling blackouts on a daily basis. The country's state-owned power utility has been struggling with power generation, leaving citizens without electricity for around 12 hours per day.
Like Zimbabwe, Zambia is affected by the drastic reduction of water levels in the Kariba reservoir which powers the Kariba North Bank Power Station, according to Africa News.
Zambia is no stranger to loadshedding and in 2015 -2016 the country experienced at least eight hours of power outages, according to Anadolu Agency.
The country was initially only supposed to experience six hours of power cuts, but the situation was worsened by the outage of a 150MW generator at Maamba Collieries Limited Power Plant.
3. Nigeria's power grid is always collapsing
While Nigeria does not have scheduled blackouts like other countries facing loadshedding, the country has experienced a series of power outages over the years.
According to the Mail & Guardian, the country was plunged into complete darkness after the national power grid failed twice within 48 hours last year. By early 2023, Nigeria's power grid had already failed and many citizens were left in the dark once again.
Reports indicate that between 2010 and 2019, Nigeria's power grid failed 206 times.
The causes for these failures are similar to the issues plagued by Eskom such as:
- ageing of the grid infrastructure,
- lack of funding,
- shortage of skilled personnel,
- poor utility performance,
- theft of grid equipment,
- weather and low gas supply.
According to This Day Live, Nigerian businesses are now forced to rely on generators to keep their doors open, which comes with a great expense.
Citizens are looking to President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to fix the power sector before elections this year, but that seems unlikely.
4. Libya's energy crisis is almost over
Like South Africa, Libya had to implement loadshedding last year due to the country's energy crisis. According to Reuters, citizens were frustrated by the rolling blackouts which caused political tensions leading to public demonstrations.
The power outages forced businesses to adapt and amend their operations to stay afloat. The Four Seasons restaurant (no relation to the hotel) in Tripoli decided to lend students a helping hand by offering them a space study for free.
Students could plug in their laptops and use their restaurant's electricity to prepare for their exams.
Libya's energy crisis was blamed on the blockade on oil production and exports led to a loss of about 1000 megawatts of the public grid's power, according to The Libya Observer.
The future is starting to look bright for Libya and the end of the energy crisis seems to be nearing an end. On January 10, 2023, the General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) announced that the electrical grid was stable and no deficits were detected.
The country will be adding more energy to the grid with the opening of new stations in Tobruk, Misrata, and western Tripoli. Citizens will have to wait and see if they are out of the woods.
KZN farmer throws out 12k litres of spoiled milk due to loadshedding
Briefly News previously reported that loadshedding has had a devastating impact on businesses and even farmers, who have made alternative power sources, are not exempt.
KwaZulu-Natal farmer Alan Stratford posted a video of the 12 000 litres of spoiled milk he had to throw out due to loadshedding.
The shattered farmer explained that he had backup power on his dairy farm, but his controls got burnt due to power outages, reports TimesLIVE. Stratford went on to sarcastically thank Eskom for poor service that resulted in a great loss.
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Source: Briefly News
