Ethiopia plunged into darkness on Saturday evening after a nationwide power outage gripped the Horn of Africa nation.
State-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation confirmed the grid failure, which impacted the country’s 120 million residents, the second-largest population in Africa.
Efforts to restore electricity have seen partial success, with the power utility announcing that half the nation, including much of Addis Ababa, regained electricity by 10:20 pm (1920 GMT).
The outage has cast a spotlight on Ethiopia’s power infrastructure, including the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. Operational since February 2022, the dam symbolizes the country’s aspirations as a regional energy hub.
Ethiopia already exports electricity to Kenya, Sudan, and Djibouti, and has formal agreements to extend power to South Sudan, Tanzania, and Somaliland.
The cause of the outage remains unclear, but the incident highlights the delicate balance of managing a vast, growing grid.
For now, Ethiopia’s bustling cities and rural landscapes await a full return to light as officials work to stabilize the grid.