New study reveals the top 10 African nations with the most business power outages and their monetary losses as a result!
February 22, 2024
Nearly 2 billion people worldwide watched the Africa Cup of Nations over the past month, and last Sunday’s final will have tested the resolve of many power networks. With this in mind, the team at Utility Bidder have revealed the African countries with the most power outages- six of which feature in the global top 10!
Top 10 African countries with the most annual business-related power cuts
Rank
Country
Most Recent Edition of Data
Number of Monthly Power Outages
Value Lost to Power Cuts (% of sales)
Annual Number of Power Outages
1
Nigeria
2014
32.8
15.6%
394
2
Central African Republic
2011
29.0
25.1%
348
3
Benin
2016
28.0
9.4%
336
4
Niger
2017
22.0
5.5%
264
5
Republic of the Congo
2009
21.5
16.4%
258
6
The Gambia
2018
21.1
14.2%
253
7
Burundi
2014
16.6
3.4%
199
8
Zambia
2019
13.3
18.8%
160
9
DR Congo
2013
12.3
7.8%
148
10
Burkina Faso
2009
9.8
5.8%
118
According to the most recent data, firms in Nigeria experience almost 33 power outages a month, equating to around 394 yearly - the third highest of any country on our list. Widespread blackouts have become common in Nigeria as their national electricity grid supply is unreliable.
Compared with the rest of the world, only Papua New Guinea and Yemen record more power outages per year on average. Nigeria’s appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday will certainly have tested power resolve across the nation.
Further insights from the study:
Power cuts in the Central African Republic cost firms the most money - resulting in a loss of more than 25% in annual sales.
Only 0.7% of sale value is lost due to power cuts for businesses in European countries, compared with 7.8% in Africa, 4.0% in Asia, and 2.2% in South America.
