President Peter Mutharika has blamed Malawi’s fuel shortage on logistics and promised that blackouts will end by December, in a government-released interview recorded at State House. On fuel, Mutharika said the problem was not a lack of supply. “The fuel is there. We have it at all the ports in Tanzania, Nacala, Beira, Tanga and […]
Malawians have spent months planning their lives around the power cut timetable. Now there is a date to hold onto. Energy Minister Jean Mathanga says loadshedding will be halved by December, and she has the fixes lined up. Mathanga pinned her hopes on two things: repairs at the Nkula hydropower station and 50 megawatts of […]
The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has warned that it could mobilise Malawians for peaceful nationwide protests if government fails to address deepening shortages of fuel, electricity, water and essential medicines, saying citizens can no longer be expected to bear the burden of persistent failures in public service delivery. In a strongly worded statement signed […]
$50m Bwengu project could ease blackouts, but developer warns of delays in paperwork Quantel Renewable Energy Limited and the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) have signed a Transmission Connection Agreement for a 50-megawatt solar plant at Bwengu in Mzimba District. The $50 million project would add 50MW to the national grid and is expected […]
Malawi’s anti-corruption watchdog has unveiled a hard-hitting new weapon in its fight against dirty money, revealing plans for a sweeping “lifestyle audit” manual designed to expose individuals suspected of amassing suspicious fortunes through questionable means. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) confirmed it has developed the explosive new investigative tool, which will be used to probe anyone […]
Malawi’s drive to build a mining industry around critical minerals is being held back by a chronic electricity shortage, according to a new World Bank report that warns the country’s mineral wealth could remain largely untapped without urgent power sector reform. The report, titled “From Potential to Prosperity: A Roadmap for Malawi’s Energy Transition Minerals”, […]
The Renewable Energy Industries Association of Malawi (REIAMA) has called on stakeholders across all sectors of the economy to engage in candid discussions on how to improve energy supply, including electricity, which remains a major challenge in the country. REIAMA made the call during a press briefing in Lilongwe on Wednesday, ahead of this year’s […]
Malawi’s former president Lazarus Chakwera has broken his silence on the country’s ongoing power crisis and the collapse of crop prices, delivering a blunt assessment of the hardship facing farmers to a crowd he stumbled upon while travelling home from a funeral. Chakwera, who led Malawi as president from 2020 until his defeat in the […]
The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) has confirmed a nationwide power outage, which began at 10:45pm on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. The blackout was confirmed in a statement more than two hours after it started. Escom said the outage followed a system shutdown, though the cause has not yet been established. The power utility […]
The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) says its nationwide project to migrate postpaid electricity customers to prepaid metering has reached more than 99 percent. ESCOM Public Relations Officer Pilirani Phiri said the Meter Migration Project had made significant progress, with completion rates nearing 100 percent in all regions. He said: “The Meter Migration Project […]
Malawi’s Minister of Energy has said she expects power blackouts to ease by December, as critical machine spares are due to arrive in the country this week and imported electricity from Mozambique is expected to begin flowing. Speaking in an interview monitored by Nyasa Times on Nation Online’s No Excuses programme on Friday, Jean Mathanga […]
Construction of the long-awaited Mozambique-Malawi (MOMA) 400kV Electricity Interconnector has finally been completed, with tariff negotiations now underway before commercial power trading can begin between the two nations. The Ministry of Energy confirmed the milestone in a statement issued Monday and signed by Secretary for Energy Elvis Thodi, hailing the interconnector’s completion as a major […]
Malawians have been warned to brace themselves for further power outages after a fresh 42-megawatt (MW) generation shortfall hit the national grid – a deficit that balloons to a crippling 83MW during evening peak hours. The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) revealed in a statement that available generation capacity currently stands at just 347MW, […]
Malawi is entering yet another dark chapter in its electricity crisis. The much-touted Mozambique-Malawi Interconnection Project, meant to inject urgently needed power into the national grid, has missed its third commissioning deadline. The latest promise — that the connection would be operational by the end of July — has passed without a single megawatt flowing […]
Malawi’s electricity sector illustrates a familiar pattern in developing economies: connections outpacing capacity. As access-expansion programmes such as the Malawi Electricity Access Project and the Malawi Rural Electrification Programme bring more households and businesses onto the grid, generation has failed to keep pace, producing chronic shortfalls and increasingly disruptive load-shedding. The numbers illustrate the scale […]
Consumer groups accuse state utilities of “financial gymnastics” after disputed debt was written off following government intervention. A protracted dispute between Malawi’s two state-owned electricity utilities has drawn public criticism after a K65.9 billion billing discrepancy was resolved through a combination of debt write-offs, tariff adjustments and a government bailout — leaving consumers to absorb […]
An energy expert has issued a scathing warning over Malawi’s crumbling power infrastructure, demanding that state-run distributor Escom urgently overhaul its maintenance and monitoring systems to put an end to the country’s persistent power blackouts. Grain Malunga didn’t mince his words, branding the ongoing system shutdowns that continue to plunge the country into darkness as […]
The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) has confirmed that power has been restored to most parts of the country following the mysterious nationwide system shutdown that plunged Malawi into darkness at 7:11am on Sunday. The utility revealed that restoration efforts kicked into gear almost immediately after the outage struck, with supply gradually returning region […]