Skip to content
September 20, 2026
  • Home
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy
Political Economist

Political Economist

A liberal News reporting Politics, Sports, Business, Commentaries

  • Home
  • National News
    • Metro News
      • metro
    • Society
    • Crime and Justice
  • Special Reports
    • Investigation
    • Features
    • Interviews
  • Opinion
    • Commentaries
    • Perspectives
  • Press Releases
  • International News
  • Business & Economy
  • Politics
Watch Online
  • Home
  • International News
  • Zimbabwe quadruples electricity prices, pummelling impoverished consumers
  • International News

Zimbabwe quadruples electricity prices, pummelling impoverished consumers

Admin October 9, 2019

Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa casts vote as voting gets underway

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

The southern African nation is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a decade, seen in triple-digit inflation, 18-hour power cuts and shortages of U.S. dollars, medicines and fuel that have evoked the dark days of the 2008 hyperinflation under late President Robert Mugabe.

The second increase in the price of electricity inside three months follows sharp rises in fuel and basic goods prices in the last week. But salaries have not kept pace, prompting citizens to blame President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s policies for the crisis.

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

ZERA said the tariff hike was necessary after inflation soared – the IMF says it was about 300% in August – and due to a plummeting Zimbabwe dollar currency, which was re-introduced in June.

The currency has since then lost 58.61% of its value against the U.S. dollar on the official market and more on a thriving black market.

Consumers seem set for more increases after the energy regulator said starting November, the power utility would index its tariff to the U.S. dollar to enable it “to recover from inflation and exchange rate changes.”

Reuters reports that the new tariff would allow ZETDC to raise money to repair its generators, as well as pay for imports from South Africa’s Eskom and Mozambique which cost U.S. $19.5 million every month, the regulator said.

Hopes that Zimbabwe’s economy would quickly rebound under Mnangagwa, who took over after the late Robert Mugabe was deposed in a coup in November 2017, have faded fast as ordinary people grapple with soaring inflation which has eroded earnings and savings.

On Monday, treasury data showed the economy was worse off than initially thought as it is projected to contract by up to 6% this year due to the power cuts that have hit mines, industry and homes and an El Nino induced drought that has left the country needing to import food.

Mnangagwa, who critics accuse of lacking commitment to political reforms and using his predecessor’s heavy-handed tactics to stifle dissent, has pleaded for time and patience to bring the economy back from the “dead.”

  • Facebook
  • Share on X
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp
  • Email
  • Copy Link
Tags: Emmerson Mnangagwa Robert Mugabe ZERA ZETDC

Post navigation

Previous Budget 2020: FG estimates revenue of N8.155trn in 2020 from oil, non-oil tax, others
Next Kaduna Sexual assault referral centers record 662 cases of abuse against women, children

Related Stories

Ugandan Shilling, Cedi and Kwacha Expected to Face Pressure; Nigeria and Kenya Currencies Stable
  • International News

Ugandan Shilling, Cedi and Kwacha Expected to Face Pressure; Nigeria and Kenya Currencies Stable

September 17, 2026
Oil slips as Saudi Arabia offers more crude via Oman; diesel near record high reserves crude oil
  • Business & Economy
  • International News

Oil slips as Saudi Arabia offers more crude via Oman; diesel near record high

September 16, 2026
Trump ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠promises $5,000 to every U.S. adult if Republicans win midterm elections
  • International News

Trump ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠promises $5,000 to every U.S. adult if Republicans win midterm elections

September 10, 2026
logo

Political Economist is a liberal news magazine with global affiliations.

At Political Economist, we promote free enterprise and act as a catalyst for the growth of knowledge economy. We are proudly pan-Nigeria yet richly spiced with African and global news. We offer a fair and balanced news reportage presented by our team of well-heeled professional journalists. <

About us

  • 5 Olutosin Ajayi Street, By CPM Church, Ajao Estate, Lagos State, Nigeria
  • +234 805 680 1124
  • info@politicaleconomistng.com

Follow

Subscribe to notifications

You may have missed

Chidi Amuta: Evolution of a public intellectual, by Ken Ugbechie
  • Commentaries

Chidi Amuta: Evolution of a public intellectual, by Ken Ugbechie

September 20, 2026
Stray bullet kills 400-level varsity student over land dispute
  • Crime and Justice

Stray bullet kills 400-level varsity student over land dispute

September 19, 2026
Police ​‌‌‌⁠‍‍⁠⁠‌⁠​⁠‍‍‌​​‌​arrests suspected child trafficker, rescue 12 year-old girl in Adamawa Ekiti abductors
  • Metro News

Police ​‌‌‌⁠‍‍⁠⁠‌⁠​⁠‍‍‌​​‌​arrests suspected child trafficker, rescue 12 year-old girl in Adamawa

September 19, 2026
Our oily presidential candidates, by Monday Philips Ekpe Taliban
  • Commentaries

Our oily presidential candidates, by Monday Philips Ekpe

September 19, 2026
  • Home
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © All rights reserved. | DarkNews by AF themes.