LUSAKA, March 20 (Xinhua) — Joseph Chewe, a barbershop owner in Ng’ombe, a residential area in Lusaka, Zambia, now has to adjust his business hours due to the availability of electricity in the capital city’s staggered power cuts.
In his neighborhood, the power supply is cut off at five in the morning and resumes around noon, affecting businesses like Chewe’s.
David Bwalya, who lives in Lusaka’s Garden compound and runs a welding business, shared that he has had to work late into the night because electricity is only available after five in the afternoon.
“There is nothing that we can do now because the problem is already here. So we need to find ways to survive the situation,” Bwalya lamented.
Chewe and Bwalya are just two examples of the many Zambians whose work and daily lives have been disrupted by the introduction of a rotational daily eight-hour load management program last week, brought about by an electricity shortage blamed on prolonged drought affecting major hydropower plants.
Zambia’s power utility, Zesco Limited, initiated the program on March 11, forcing businesses and residents to adapt to the new schedule.
The government has stated that the country is facing an electricity deficit of 430 megawatts, with projections that it may reach 520 megawatts by December.
Some experts, like Johnstone Chikwanda, argue that the current power shortage is a result of inadequate planning and poor implementation of national energy diversification plans over the past 15 years, rather than solely being caused by the drought.
Zambia has experienced electricity deficits before, notably during the severe drought of the 2015-2016 season, which also led to rotational load-shedding, highlighting the need for better preparation and measures to prevent such situations, Chikwanda emphasized.
Chikwanda emphasized the importance of investing in alternative energy sources and reducing reliance on hydropower to prevent future energy crises.
