HARARE – Thousands of Zimbabweans were left in the dark on Monday evening after the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) confirmed a nationwide power outage just hours before the highly anticipated FIFA World Cup clash between Portugal and Spain.
By Advent Shoko
The outage occurred at 6:24 p.m., with many football fans preparing to watch the blockbuster fixture scheduled for 9:00 p.m.
In a statement, ZESA said the blackout was caused by a technical fault on its electricity network and assured the public that engineers had already begun restoration efforts.
“ZESA Holdings wishes to inform its valued stakeholders of a nationwide power outage that occurred today, Monday 6 July at 1824 hours due to a technical fault on our network.
“Our technical teams are currently investigating the cause of the outage. Simultaneously, restoration efforts are underway, and our engineers are working to restore grid stability and bring back power in the shortest possible time. Further updates will be provided as restoration progresses.
“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
The timing of the outage could hardly have been worse.
With millions expected to tune in for one of the tournament’s biggest matches, only households and businesses with solar systems, generators or other backup power solutions are likely to enjoy uninterrupted viewing if electricity is not restored in time.
Beyond football fans, the outage also raises concerns for winter wheat farmers who rely heavily on electricity for irrigation during the current farming season.
Reliable power has become increasingly important as Zimbabwe works to consolidate recent gains in agricultural production. The country has recorded successive surplus wheat harvests in recent years, a sharp contrast to the bread shortages experienced only a few years ago.
Zimbabwe’s electricity supply had shown noticeable improvement over recent months, with only isolated outages being reported.
The improvement followed a widely publicised power failure during President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s State of the Nation Address in Parliament, an incident that triggered changes in the leadership of the country’s power utility.
Monday’s nationwide blackout is therefore likely to attract close attention as Zimbabwe continues efforts to strengthen electricity supply for households, industry and agriculture.
For now, all eyes remain on ZESA’s restoration teams as the nation waits for the lights.
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