Zimbabweans hit with electricity price hike

Zimbabwe’s energy regulator has allowed the state power company to increase tariffs by 50% from

Thursday while another hike by the same margin would come into effect next month.

The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) had already raised tariffs by 50% on Sept. 23 to bring its rates in line with inflation running above 700%.

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For most of last year, Musoro’s biggest problem stemmed from a lack of available power. Hit by a combination

of man-made and natural challenges, the state power company simply could not generate enough electricity to

keep up with demand, forcing it to institute blackouts for up to 17 hours a day.

Since last fall, though, routine outages have been minimized to a few hours and only on isolated days, but not because more power is available.

Last year in October, the power company hiked the average electricity tariff by 320% in a bid to ramp up

production and improve supplies.

Zimbabwe has managed to keep the lights on since March after businesses were either shut or cut production

after a government-imposed lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zimbabweans have frowned at the increase as it would hit residents whose salaries have lagged inflation,

while businesses could pass on the cost to consumers.

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