Zimbabwe on Tuesday raised electricity tariffs by more than 50% as it battles worsening power shortages in the country and a vicious inflation spiral which has increased economic hardships.
A subsidiary of the state power utility Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) Holdings said in a statement it was raising electricity prices for both domestic and industrial use by 50,2% and would be making further increases in line with inflation.
Zimbabwe — which has been grappling with chronic power shortages over the last two years — has suffered severe blackouts in the last few days after some of Zesa’s power generators broke down and the agency also failed to buy coal for the others.
The shortages are forcing many households in towns to resort to firewood for cooking while middle-class families are being forced to install gas and fuel generators.
Critics blame President Robert Mugabe’s controversial policies for plunging the Southern African country into a deep crisis.
Economic analysts say the government has hurt Zimbabwe’s power industry over the years by insisting on low consumer charges, which has discouraged investment in the sector and left the country with old and costly power stations.
Zimbabwe imports 35% of its electricity needs but is struggling to pay its bills due to the deteriorating economy.
The country’s economic crisis has produced the world’s highest inflation rate of above 3 700%, unemployment of around 80% and chronic shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency.
Mugabe — 83 and in power since independence in 1980 — says the economy is being sabotaged by Western opponents led by former colonial power Britain trying to oust him for seizing white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks.
But critics in Zimbabwe’s private industry believe skewed government-imposed consumer prices are at the heart of some of the country’s economic problems.
For example, a packet of candles costs almost double the price of a month’s supply of electricity from the power utility. – Reuters