Zimbabwe and Zambia experienced simultaneous nationwide blackouts on Sunday night, attributed to a surge on power lines linked to South African utility Eskom.
The outage struck Zambia at 8:15 PM and Zimbabwe at 8:25 PM. Zimbabwe’s state utility, ZESA, described it as a “system disturbance” that caused a complete grid failure, while Zambia’s ZESCO cited a similar “power system disturbance” leading to a nationwide outage.
ZESA engineers immediately began restoration efforts, and power was restored to most of Zimbabwe by 3:00 AM on Monday. ZESA’s initial findings suggest the fault originated from a surge on power lines importing electricity from South Africa. Zambia, which has been heavily reliant on Eskom due to its severe power deficit, was also affected.
Both nations are grappling with significant power generation challenges caused by low water levels at the shared Kariba Dam, limiting hydroelectric production. Additionally, Zimbabwe faces compounded issues with frequent breakdowns at its ageing thermal power plants, leaving residents enduring outages of up to 18 hours daily.
The blackout highlighted the fragility of the regional power infrastructure and the heavy dependence on imports amid domestic generation shortfalls.
