State Utility Decries 200m Birr Looting

The state-owned Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) has disclosed close to 200 million Birr in losses stemming from a chronic looting targeting its power infrastructure network over the first nine months of the financial year ending July 7.

Among the property reported stolen by EEU are transformers, transmission lines, and other costly pieces of equipment. The firm says illegal electricity connections and troubles faced by its employees in carrying out their work have contributed to the losses.

EEU estimates the cost of infrastructure thefts and damage over the nine-month period at more than 52 million Birr.

More than 200 criminal charges have been filed in relation to the rampant looting, according to the utility firm, and close to 30 cases have ended in guilty verdicts that carry prison sentences of up to 10 years in addition to up to 50,000 Birr in fines.

EEU purchases energy from its sister company, Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), and distributes it to consumers. EEU’s purchases from EEP in 2024 registered at 17 billion birr, up from nearly 15 billion birr the year prior. The growth was not enough to pull EEP’s finances out of the red, as the enterprise recorded yet another year of hefty losses in 2024, bleeding 10 billion birr.