Business in Tanzania’s commercial capital has been brought to a near-standstill by massive power failures that have left about 30% of the city without electricity, officials said on Friday.
Many parts of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, have gone without power for two days, with industrial areas of the Indian Ocean port being hardest hit and other sections subject to electricity rationing, they said.
Amid growing anger in the business community, the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) said it is working to repair breakdowns at two main transformers that caused the outages, but warned the process could take another seven days.
”We are working around the clock to solve the problem within a week,” Tanesco’s senior engineer, Mohamed Salehe, said.
The breakdowns have cut off the supply of 76 of the 200 megawatts of electricity normally distributed to the city, forcing officials to resort to power rationing through rolling blackouts, according to Martin Kalokola, another Tanesco official.
In the meantime, business owners and industrialists who can afford them have resorted to expensive private generators to supply their power, angering many.
”This is ridiculous,” said Christopher Mbuguni, a manager with a Dar es Salaam tea-blending firm.
”We have lost business worth over 10-million shillings [$9 000] for lack of power.”
But Tanesco said it is equally hit by the problem, which is choking its revenue to the tune of about $200 000 a day. — Sapa-AFP