SMEs resort to night trading as blackouts persist

Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief

MANY small to medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in Gweru such as hair salons, welders, grain millers, and those involved in upholstery, printing, and photocopying business have resorted to operating at night due to the load shedding.

The SMEs are now working between 10PM and 5AM when power would have been restored by Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa).

The prolonged hours of load shedding have affected most businesses throughout the country.

According to Zesa, a steady supply of electricity is expected in the second-half of the year when the Hwange Thermal Power Station Units 7 and 8 would have been commissioned and adding 600 megawatts into the national grid.

Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa).

The new load-shedding schedule has seen suburbs such as Mkoba, Mtapa, Ascot, Senga, and Mambo going for several hours without electricity. Most of the SMEs are located in those suburbs.

Mrs Shelia Moyo (28), a tailor operating at Mkoba 10 Shopping Centre said she now is now forced to start work at 10PM until 5AM the following morning.

“I open my shop from 1PM to 4PM and during that time I will be cutting and designing using a pair of scissors. At around 9.30PM, I return to the shop since power would have been restored and start sewing until 5AM when load shedding starts,” she said.

Mr Samuel Mutsekiwa (40), a welder operating at Mkoba 6 Shopping Centre is also operating at night.
“I tried using a generator to operate my welding machine and grinder, but the cost of fuel was too much and I had to abandon that idea.

I start working in the evening like other SMEs because we have no resources to power the generator,” he said.
Mr Tarisai Sipambi (34) who runs butcheries in Mkoba suburb said power cuts are affecting his business.

“The rate at which the power cuts are occurring is too much. I lost a lot of revenue when my meat went bad in the fridges. Meat is supposed to be kept under cool temperatures and when there is no power there is nothing we can do but count our losses,” he said.

Mr Sipambi said he is also forced to come at night to cut and grade meat for sale to clients.
“The moment that we receive electricity back, I have to rush and open the butchery so that we can cut and grade the meat,” he said.

Ms Tariro Shoko (28) from Mkoba 3 suburb said: “We are forced to wake up at 10 PM and do ironing of school uniforms and other clothes.”

According to Zesa, a steady supply of electricity is expected in the second-half of the year when the Hwange Thermal Power Station Units 7 and 8 would have been commissioned and adding 600 megawatts into the national grid.

“Some of us want to study at around 4AM after resting a bit. However, before slipping into the familiar groove, we experience load shedding,” she said.

“Normally when there is load shedding, network connectivity is affected and without network, we can’t research anything on Google.”

Mr Tafadzwa Mazorodze from the Zimbabwe Chamber of SMEs said the country has been facing extensive power cuts which have adversely affected business operations.

“Our members have been affected by power cuts and some of them are now working at night taking advantage of the availability of power,” he said.