Too Much Debt, Too Little Water Worsens Zimbabwe Power Blackouts
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Blackouts that left Zimbabweans without electricity for 18 hours a day for the past 10 days were exacerbated by the state utility’s struggle to repay debt and as low water levels in the world’s biggest man-made reservoir cut hydropower generation.
Zesa Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. owes Hidroelectric de Cahora Bassa SA about $80 million and is “battling to pay,” Julian Chinembiri, managing director of its Zimbabwe Electricity and Transmission Distribution Co. unit, said in an interview May 23.