Residents of Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa have expressed growing frustration over persistent and prolonged electricity interruptions in recent weeks.
Several neighborhoods across the city have experienced prolonged rolling blackouts, with power being cut off for multiple hours at a time on a near-daily basis over the past two months.
While electricity shortages have long plagued Addis Ababa, locals say the situation has deteriorated significantly, with blackouts now hitting multiple areas each day in an unscheduled manner. This has disrupted daily life and made it difficult for people and businesses to rely on a stable power supply.
Citizens took to social media to vent their anger over the worsening power cuts.
“We experience blackouts at least three times a day in the Mekanisa neighborhood,” wrote one resident.
“Come over to Abado condominum, I bet you will observe a minimum of three blackouts in a day,” said another resident.
Local officials have acknowledged ongoing technical issues at generation plants and within the transmission network.
However, they have not provided a clear plan or timeline to resolve the power crisis that shows no signs of abating.
The power outage problem is especially severe in the Ayat neighborhood, according to local residents.
“Come to Ayat – a day doesn’t pass without a power outage,” said one resident living there.
In Ayat, a residential area home to many high-rise buildings and condominiums, a power line came down last week after a concrete power pole fell during a joint construction work by a local and Chinese contractor, according to sources.
Heavy flooding had destabilized the ground where the pole was erected, ultimately causing it to collapse and bring down the line.
Repairing the damage has proven difficult according to Yohannes Gebre, communications director at the Electric Utility bureau.
“The line services the many residents of the Ayat Real Estate area, so a temporary fix was necessary, but the fallen pole was large and made of concrete, making repairs complex,” he said.
There are also concerns about how properly the pole was installed initially and whether precautions were taken regarding the unstable ground.
Maintaining and upgrading Ethiopia’s electricity grid is an ongoing challenge, as demand rises along with the need for replacement of aging infrastructure.
