Zimbabwe loses half its daily power supply after technical hitch

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe lost half of its daily power supply on Tuesday after a technical hitch, the state power company said, disrupting business in an economy struggling to overcome a commodities downturn and severe drought. The power firm said a total of 800 megawatts (MW) of electricity was lost due to the fault on its distribution system and its technicians were hoping to restore power by midday, an official with the state power company said. A large amount of the power lost is generated at Zimbabwe's Kariba hydro power plant while the rest is made up of imports from neighbouring Zambia and Mozambique, Fullard Gwasira, spokesman for state power utility ZESA Holdings, said. Peak power demand in Zimbabwe has fallen over the last decade to 1,600 MW from 2,200 MW before a recession. Zimbabwe has been experiencing crippling power cuts, blamed for keeping potential investors away from an economy still struggling to overcome the impact of a steep 1999-2008 recession that saw it contract by nearly half. A drought blighting southern Africa has hit Zimbabwe particularly hard, while prices of its mineral exports of platinum, gold and ferrochrome have fallen sharply owing to a global commodities rout since last year. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by James Macharia)