Zimbabwe cities hit by power cuts

Electricity has been restored to parts of Zimbabwe after a major blackout on Saturday night, reports say.

The blackout affected the capital, Harare, as well as the city of Bulawayo, and smaller towns including Mutare, Victoria Falls and Kariba.

Mains water pressure dropped, mobile phone connections were erratic and newspapers were not published.

Zimbabwe, which is in the midst of an economic crisis, has been experiencing power supply problems for some time.

Power is being restored gradually, although some parts of Harare are still said to be without electricity. The supply there has been irregular at best, for some months.

This apparent failure of the national grid is just the latest in a series of problems facing the Zimbabwean authorities.

Zimbabwe imports much of its electricity from neighbouring countries, but as the economic crisis has worsened, there's been a shortage of foreign currency with which to pay for supplies.

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