Drought Forces Zambia to Start Power Cuts 

(Bloomberg) -- Zambia will start electricity-supply restrictions immediately after one of the worst droughts on record caused plunging water levels at the hydropower dams it relies on for almost all its supplies, the state-owned power utility said.

“In view of the power deficit, Zesco Ltd. intends to commence load management to restrict supply,” the company said in a notice dated May 17. It didn’t provide details as to how severe the shortage is, and will meet stakeholders from Wednesday to brief them on the deficit, according to the notice.

The electricity shortage will deal another blow to the economy of Africa’s second-biggest copper producer that’s already forecast to expand at the slowest pace in 21 years in 2019. Zambia is grappling with a mounting debt burden, a currency that’s the world’s second-worst performer this year, and tensions with the mining sector it relies on for more than 70% of its foreign exchange earnings. Copper producers including Vedanta Resources Ltd. and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. use more than half of Zambia’s electricity supply.

Water levels at the Kariba hydropower dam that straddles Zambia and Zimbabwe receded to 32% by May 20. At the same time last year, it was 77% full and still rising. Flows of the Zambezi river that feeds it are less than a quarter of what they were a year ago, and comparable to those in 1995-96, which were the lowest in 50 years of records, according to data from the two governments.

Zimbabwe also deepened power rationing this month partly because of the dropping water levels at Kariba, the biggest source of electricity for each of the neighboring countries.

To contact the reporters on this story: Matthew Hill in Maputo at mhill58@bloomberg.net;Taonga Clifford Mitimingi in Lusaka at tmitimingi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net, Gordon Bell, Jacqueline Mackenzie

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