2008 Zanzibar power blackout 2008 Zanzibar power blackout The 2008 Zanzibar Power blackout was an extensive power outage on Zanzibar, Tanzania. A similar and longer event happened in Zanzibar in 2009. The island was without power for more than three months. During May and June 2008, Zanzibar suffered a period of almost one month without mains electricity due to a grid failure which left the entire island dependent on alternative methods of electricity generation (mainly diesel generators). Power failed on 21 May 2008 after a wide-area grid failure across the Tanzanian network was followed by a power surge which damaged the submarine interconnector cable
Zanzibar century. Persian, Indian, and Arab traders used Zanzibar as a base for voyages between the Middle East, India, and Africa. Unguja, the larger island, offered a protected and defensible harbor, so although the archipelago offered few products of value, traders settled at Zanzibar City ("Stone Town") a convenient point from which to trade with the other Swahili coast towns. The impact of these traders and immigrants on the Swahili culture is uncertain. During the Middle Ages, Zanzibar and other settlements on the Swahili Coast were advanced. The littoral contained a number of autonomous trade cities. These towns grew in wealth