Lusaka, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 24th Aug, 2024) Zambia is bracing for 17-hour-a-day power cuts from next month as a prolonged drought dries up its hydroelectric dams, undermining economic activity and putting jobs at risk.
Since the southern African country declared a national disaster in February due to drought, it has reduced energy supplies and imported electricity from neighboring countries.
But now that the hydroelectric dams – which provide more than 80 percent of the electricity supply – are almost empty, the government announced last week that it will extend the 14-hour power cuts introduced in July to 5 hours a day .
The measure will start on September 1, Energy Minister Makozo Chikote said. He did not say how long it would last.
The next rainy season in Zambia normally starts around November.
The gigantic Kariba Dam, Zambia’s largest source of hydroelectric power, has only 10 percent of the water available for power generation, the minister said.
Kariba power station likely to close in September; the Itezhi-Tezhi hydroelectric dam has already shut down one of its two turbines in July due to low water levels.
The Maamba coal-fired power plant is scheduled for maintenance in September, robbing the national power grid of several megawatts.
Already Zambians are struggling, including many who make a living from small businesses such as butchers and hair salons, and are most vulnerable to power cuts.
A welder in Lusaka’s Mtendere slum, Chris Banda, has changed his working hours to whenever there is power, which can mean midnight.
“It’s tough.
I don’t sleep. Now it works every time the power is restored. This has made life unbearable,” Banda, 40, said.
A 56-year-old barber, John Likumbi, said he had to buy two rechargeable machines to keep his business operational. “So even if there is a blackout, I still manage to continue with my work,” he said.
Zambians are encouraged to use solar panels and energy efficient appliances. One business, SunnyMoney Zambia, says its sales of solar lighting products have increased by more than 540 percent.
– Recipe for disorders –
The government says it will import more power from South Africa and the Southern African regional Power Pool.
State energy company ZESCO sought to raise tariffs by up to 156 percent to cover import costs, but was stopped by the energy board which warned it would risk job losses and higher living costs.
Zambians are losing their jobs or seeing pay cuts as employers reduce activity to cope with power outages, Private Sector Development Association president Yosuf Dodia told AFP.
“This is a recipe for civil unrest and the government should move quickly and seize power,” he said.
The International Monetary Fund in June revised its projected growth for Zambia’s economy this year from 4.7 percent to 2.3 percent due to the drought, which is impacting food production and electricity generation.
More than half of Zambia’s 19.6 million people live below the poverty line, according to the World Food Programme, which has warned of food insecurity in southern Africa due to drought across the region.
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by pipanews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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