Malawians now check electricity reports that read like weather forecasts

The people of Malawi are learning to live in the dark. Their beleaguered power utility, Escom, is unable to meet electricity demand and early this year reintroduced a tortuous schedule of rolling blackouts known as “load shedding”.power-outage

Malawians now check electricity reports that read like weather forecasts: “There is a medium probability of load shedding today and tomorrow, with a higher probability on Thursday and Friday.”

Newspapers print survival tips and “load shedder recipes” for food you can prepare without electricity. And there are bleak jokes aplenty. “Q: What did Malawians use before candles? A: Electricity.”

The power cuts are hurting an already stagnant economy. Both big industry and small businesses are feeling the pinch.

Meanwhile Escom has warned that the blackouts could drag on for months, perhaps even years, as it struggles with a maintenance backlog and a barrage of technical problems at its ageing Nkula and Tedzani power stations.

Captains of industry and commerce say erratic power supplies are proving costly to their businesses while life has become unbearable for ordinary people due to frequent blackouts.

Some stakeholders and economic analysts urged Escom and government to find a lasting solution to the power crisis which affects efforts to revive the economy.

On the business side, the situation has affected mainly the agricultural and manufacturing sectors which have been on the downward spiral since the early 2000s.

We have been talking about rising labour costs in the country. We have a situation where people came to work and spend the whole day doing nothing because there is no power, especially in industrial areas. Those people need to be paid; where does the money come from if there is no production?” sometimes businesses worked on tight deadlines to produce goods.

If such deadline are missed out on business opportunities, be assured that the orders might be cancelled.

The situation is bad and it cuts across the board. There is need for Escom to find a plan to deal with the matter. The most affected areas are agriculture and manufacturing industries. If we use generators then the cost of production will go up and again it affects our business operations.

Economic analyst says huge damage had already been done by the erratic power supplies.

These load sheddings are causing the closure of many factories and it is badly increasing the cost of doing business in the country. The damage has been done and it’s preventing business to get back to normal.

If this frequent blackouts continues, it will be difficult to tell investors who want to come and set up their machinery which should run for 24 hours that they will not be able to do so because of power cuts.

Trust me, with these blackouts, Malawi could no longer create employment, while most young people no longer saw a future for themselves.

Ordinary residents in the cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe are also concerned by the frequent power cuts. These power cuts had a net effect of increasing the cost of living on the ordinary citizens.

The major impact has been economical — refrigerated perishable goods are going bad; milk, cheese, meat among others, the cost of firewood and other alternative energy sources has reduced the disposable incomes for most families as they have to spend money on paraffin, gas, candles and solar energy and fuel to power generators.”

Residents are concerned that they were paying in advance for the electricity but supplies were erratic, increasing the financial burden upon their meagre earnings through formal and informal means.

Some residents said their major expenses arose from buying firewood, gas or paraffin while their social lives have been affected as most times they cannot watch television.

However, Escom said the power utility was working tirelessly to improve the security of electricity supply.

The dis-jointed Escom said it was important for consumers to complement the power utility by exercising various Demand Side Management (DSM) initiatives like switching off gadgets that are not in use.

However, I quote former Blantyre Newspapers Editor James Mphande, who said for the past eight years, people will realise that there were rehabilitations at Nkula, Tedzani by Indians and other companies costing millions of US dollars.

The talk then was that after such works, power interruptions would reduce or stop but nothing has changed. We still talk of rehabilitations; one was scheduled for January at Nkula and has now been shifted to 2017. James argument is: if rehabilitations are not bringing any change/improvement, maybe it is high time we put our efforts elsewhere.

Apparently, government and Escom are wasting money, borrowed to be paid by our children and their children, but there is nothing in return. Look at the cost of overhauling/building new Hydro power point against the cost of almost annual rehabs. It is like keeping a jalopy that costs you more in maintenance when the best alternative is to just get a new one at almost same cost.

Finally, my question to Escom is you have over the past years been carrying out rehabilitation works on its power generating plants with millions of US dollars spent. For each of these works, we are told once completed, blackouts will be a thing of the past. The funny thing is that despite losing such huge sums every two years, there is no improvement in terms of power supply. If anything, the situation is getting worse. Who sanctions these costly but ineffective rehabilitations?

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :

Sharing is caring!

Follow us in Twitter
22 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
KK
KK
8 years ago

#2 you are 100% right

BMW
BMW
8 years ago

Rehabilitations my foot. This is what happens when you run a system eternally without maintenance and upgrades.

nothing but the truth.

kupusa a Malawife.A ESCOM ndi awa tikungowawona akuyendanyenda mu magalimoto kaya ntchito akugwira nthawi yanji.Samala ndi kuwotcha.

James kotoki
James kotoki
8 years ago

Nkula,and tedzani were all constructed during kamuzu and these idiots they just came in with their heads full of water just eating and fattening themselves without thinking of other plans,and continue saying kamuzu,did nothing.idiots of leaders we have now.

The Analyzer
The Analyzer
8 years ago

It is mind blowing to see the president and his cohort globe trotting in the name of attracting investors when there is no electricity in Malawi. Every aspect of investment requires reliable energy. Be it production, construction, tourism, health, agriculture, etc. The president for once was supposed to show leadership during this energy crisis. APM has lacked leadership in many critical times since the days he was Minister of Education and at Foreign Affairs. The leadership gaffs are the ones now setting the no nonsense John Magufuli and Paul Kagame in a class of their own. Going about bragging to… Read more »

Eugene
Eugene
8 years ago

577 BILLION woyeeee..add to that, the deforestation caused by need for firewood will cause very big problems in the future. There is need for a State of Emergency

Zidura Ntengo Undigwere
Zidura Ntengo Undigwere
8 years ago

Pithy last question there, Jeromy Kadewere.
One of the problems is that the decision makers at ESCOM are not accountable. The same problems persist, and there is NO reason to expect otherwise, in future, as long as the same people are making the strategic decisions.
I am giving up on ESCOM. Maybe privatization will change the picture. Otherwise, I am seriously thinking of going solar. You won’t believe how fed up I am, and the amount of havoc the unpredictability of the power is causing to the well being of my family. Too bad I can’t sue ESCOM for …

Mphwache
Mphwache
8 years ago

We need alternative energy sources, like solar, wind and thermal. Initially these sources may seem expensive but they are quicker to install than hydro.

flyton Manda
flyton Manda
8 years ago

The blind leading the blind.

akuntinji anamuona
akuntinji anamuona
8 years ago

Mr Mphande I think you question is unrealistic. Sometimes let’s be honest with what we want to achieve with our writings. Rehabilitation using MCC grant funds has just started, so you want to pretend as if you don’t know what is happening in your nation. We serious needs maintenance now but there should alternative while we are replacing our old machines. The best thing you can do Mr Mphande, check the progress of project and up date with right information. Let’s help our brothers and sisters to understand that such works is not like fixing a latop or vehicle fault.… Read more »

Read previous post:
Malawi President hails UK, assures adherence to economic reforms

Malawi government remains hopeful that the expedition of economic and public service reforms will yield back donor confidence and facilitate...

Close