Lilongwe – Malawi, one of the poorest countries on the planet, was on Saturday plunged into darkness due to a major power outage affecting the whole nation, the national energy company (Escom) said.
Apologising for the blackout at around 18:00, Escom said “efforts are being made to restore power supply at the earliest possible time”.
The country has been experiencing massive blackouts, which sometimes last up to eight hours, for several months.
In late January, Malawians were without power for three days after tropical storm Ana hit, killing dozens in southern Africa and damaging one of the country’s main power stations.
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The latest national outage angered many.
“Let’s just admit that our country is poor and broke,” one person posted on Facebook. “In other countries, ten minutes’ blackout, the minister comes out to apologise to the people.”
Malawi is facing great economic difficulties with numerous political scandals linked to corruption.
Less than 15 percent of the 19 million population has access to electricity, according to the World Bank
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Source: AFP
Picture: Pexels
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