Nigeria’s electricity distribution companies reported a “total system collapse” on Thursday, causing widespread blackouts across Africa’s biggest economy. The outage was caused by a fire on a major transmission line, according to Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu.
Adelabu said the fire has been extinguished and that power generation is slowly returning. However, as of 2 p.m. GMT, only 1,341 megawatts of power were being generated, well below the daily average of 4,100 megawatts.
Lagos-based Eko Electricity Distribution Company, one of the biggest, said grid power was being restored.
The grid collapse is the fourth time it has happened in 2022. Authorities have blamed technical problems for the outages.
Nigeria has 12,500 megawatts of installed power capacity but produces only about a quarter of that.
The blackouts have had a significant impact on businesses and households across Nigeria. Many businesses have been forced to close or operate at reduced capacity. Households have also been inconvenienced, as they have had to rely on generators for power.
The blackouts have also had a negative impact on the economy. The Nigerian Stock Exchange has fallen sharply since the blackouts began, and businesses have expressed concerns about the impact on productivity.
The government has said that it is working to restore power to all affected areas as soon as possible.
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