A harsh combination of persistent power outages and rising temperatures is crippling businesses in Kano, pushing many to the brink and in some cases, forcing complete closure.
According to recent reports, prolonged blackouts across the state have made it nearly impossible for small and medium-scale businesses to operate effectively. With little to no electricity, daily operations from welding to tailoring, refrigeration, and printing have been severely disrupted.
But it’s not just the absence of power it’s the cost of survival.
Business owners are now heavily dependent on generators, spending thousands of naira daily on fuel just to stay open. For many, this has become unsustainable. Some have shut down entirely, while others have reduced working hours or laid off staff to cope with rising expenses.
The situation is made worse by extreme heat conditions, with temperatures soaring across northern Nigeria. Without electricity to power fans or cooling systems, both workers and customers struggle to function in uncomfortable and sometimes unsafe conditions.
The ripple effects are everywhere:
- Frozen food sellers are losing goods due to lack of refrigeration
- Tailors and artisans are missing deadlines
- Barbers and small shop owners are seeing fewer customers
- Households are spending more on fuel than essentials
Across Kano, some residents report receiving barely one hour of electricity daily, often at odd hours, making it unreliable for any meaningful business activity.
Behind the crisis are deeper structural issues
including gas supply shortages to power plants, weak infrastructure, and long-standing inefficiencies in Nigeria’s electricity sector.
For many entrepreneurs, the reality is simple and painful:
Without stable power, business cannot survive.
And in Kano, that reality is no longer theoretical it is happening in real time, with shops closing, incomes shrinking, and livelihoods slipping away.
Post a Comment