Assignment

Literature Review

“Effects of Climate Change – A Case Study on the Impact of Load Shedding on SMEs in Zambia.

Energy in the form of electricity is now required by the majority of homes worldwide in addition to being a vital component of most industry activities. However, load shedding has been occurring in Zambia due to an inadequate supply of power compared to the continuously rising demand. But starting in 2015, load shedding significantly increased. ZESCO defined this to low water levels in the reservoirs as a result of the 2014–15 season's less rainfall than usual (Engineering Institution of Zambia, 2015).

According to (Sichone et al., 2016), Limited availability and inadequate access to stable and reliable power, remains one of the greatest constraints to the growth of the manufacturing sector and other industries in Zambia. According to some forecasts, load shedding lowers an economy's average production by around 10% overall. However, some industries have somewhat fewer productivity losses than others since their supplies may be held during outages (Yimbilanji et al., 2016).

Reduced economic growth and development is the ultimate effect of electricity shortages, according to (Park et al., 2014). Until now (Mbunwe, 2014) claimed that whether or not businesses have other power sources determines how much load shedding affects industry or businesses. The author also mentioned that businesses who have the ability to produce their own power during load shedding has distinct effects than those that do not. Businesses who are able to produce their own electricity will be able to continue with regular business operations, although at a greater cost. Businesses who cannot afford to employ alternative energy sources find themselves forced to reduce or stop their activities in the meantime.

Sichone, Y. M., Mulenga, P., Phiri, C., Kapena, S., & Fandamu, H. (2016). Electricity load shedding. An econometric analysis of the productivity of firms in the manufacturing sector in Lusaka. International Journal of Commerce and Management Research, 2(12), 151-157.
Engineering Institution of Zambia. Report on ZESCO Load Shedding, EIZ Data Bank, Lusaka, 2015.
Mbunwe MJ., 2014. Analysis of Energy Crisis and How it Affects Production Sector and Economic Growth of Nigeria. WCECS, San Francisco.