Zimbabwe hikes electricity prices, affecting impoverished consumers

Zimbabwe hikes electricity prices, affecting impoverished consumers

Zimbabwe hiked its average electricity tariff by 320% on Wednesday in attempts to ramp up power supplies at a time of daily blackouts. However, the move has angered consumers already grappling with soaring inflation that is eroding their earnings.

The southern African nation is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a decade with inflations seen in the triple digit. That, along with 18-hour power cuts and medicine and fuel shortages have evoked the dark days of the 2008 hyperinflation under late President Robert Mugabe.

The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) said that it had approved an application by Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) to raise the tariff from 38.61 cents to 162.16 cents (10.61 U.S. cents).

The new tariff would allow ZETDC to raise money to repair its generators and pay for imports from South Africa’s Eskom and Mozambique.