Zimbabwe and Zambia were plunged into darkness on Sunday night after a major power failure affected both countries’ national grids.

The blackout, which began on 24 November, was caused by what authorities described as a “system disturbance” on the shared regional power network.

Millions of residents across both southern African nations were affected by the outage, with major cities reporting total loss of electricity supply.

Power companies in both countries have begun restoration efforts, with some areas in Zimbabwe already seeing their electricity supply return.

The incident highlights the fragility of the region’s power infrastructure, which has faced repeated challenges in recent years.

“Restoration efforts are underway,” a power utility spokesperson told reporters, though no specific timeline was given for full service recovery.