Widespread Power Outages Hit Ghana and Kenya

Separate power grid failures disrupted electricity across Ghana and Kenya on July 29, 2026. In Ghana, a major fault on the national grid triggered a nationwide blackout in the early hours of Wednesday, forcing several power plants to shut down. The outage affected the capital, Accra, the commercial hub of Kumasi, and much of the northern region, disrupting transportation and small businesses.

Ghana Grid Company Limited is conducting a technical investigation into the failure. The country has a history of intermittent shortages, known as dumsor, caused by poor maintenance and ageing hydropower plants. While hospitals utilized backup generators, the broader population faced significant disruptions to essential services.

Later that Wednesday evening, a separate outage struck Kenya. Kenya Power reported that the blackout affected Nairobi, the Coast region, Mt. Kenya, and parts of the Central Rift, though supply remained stable in the Western and North Rift regions. The utility company deployed technical teams to restore power but did not disclose the cause of the failure or provide a specific timeline for full restoration.