By David White
In Uganda, mains electricity has been off as much as on. In Ghana, it has been cut every third day. In Zimbabwe, blackouts have increasingly become part of normal life.

A combination of natural causes, poor planning, growing demand and erratic investment has caused energy disruptions across much of Africa, coinciding with the impact of high oil prices. Places accustomed to regular power have been caught up in the wave of load-shedding. Cuts have affected even South Africa, always envied for its plentiful supply of cheap power. Oil producing countries are not exempt, either. Nigeria, the continent’s top exporter of crude, has to import most of its fuel. Power cuts are a frequent occurrence there as they have become in most countries of the continent.