Zimbabwe's parliament has apologised to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the nation after a power outage briefly disrupted his state of the nation address in parliament on Tuesday.

The president delivered part of his televised address with the help of a torchlight held by an aide after parliament was plunged into darkness.

In a statement, the clerk of parliament blamed the loss of power to a faulty electricity generator supplying power to the building.

He said a back-up supply from the country’s power-utility firm Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) was on standby, although he did not say if it proved ineffective.

‘Faulty circuit breaker’

"When supplies were lost, the generator was still running but not supplying power. Preliminary investigations indicate that a circuit breaker supplying the load had tripped,” the Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda said in a statement.

He said the restoration process took longer than expected, resulting in part of the president’s address being delivered without power supply.

Investigations have been opened and measures will be put in place to prevent future occurrences, he added.

Zimbabwe parliament has a history of power outages during major events. In November last year, President Mnangagwa, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga and members of parliament were left sitting in darkness as the finance minister made his budget speech.

President’s economic outlook

The president's speech on Tuesday outlined initiatives and strategies that will shape Zimbabwe’s economic future.

“The national economy is projected to grow by 6.6% in 2025, anchored on the recovery in the agricultural sector, with record harvests of tobacco, maize and wheat, among other crops," he said, according to clips of the address shared by the ministry of information.

Zimbabwe's new parliament building was constructed and funded by China through a grant and handed over to government in October 2023.