Power outages : local radio stations suffocate in the dark

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, September 17, 2025 — Burundian local radio stations are going through an unprecedented crisis. Power outages, which have become almost daily, cripple studios, interrupt shows and threaten equipment. For listeners, it’s a frustrating and unsettling silence that settles.

Newspapers often start… without ever ending. Sometimes, programs abruptly stop, leaving the audience in suspense. “The power goes out without warning, and with it our whole broadcasting system,” confides a technician at a private radio station.

Outdated generators

Power generators, long a rescue solution, now struggle to compensate for the cuts. Some fail from repeated starts, others run out of fuel, becoming scarce and expensive for small stations.

Studio equipment is under constant pressure : mixing consoles, transmitters and sensitive equipment are regularly exposed to risks of failure. The ripple, supposed to guarantee a temporary relay, is no longer sufficient to cope with the frequency of outages.

“Every day, we fear that the material will definitely let go. We can no longer guarantee a stable service to the population,” lamented a station manager.

Auditors in expectation

From the audience, exasperation grew. Many can no longer follow their favorite shows or stay informed properly. Regideso, the company responsible for the electricity distribution, is content to indicate that “repairs are underway”, without a specific timetable. The CEO’s promises are judged vague and rarely followed through, accentuating the uncertainty.

Calls for a global solution

Radios have tried to obtain localized solutions or priority treatment from the authorities, but without success. “This is not a problem that can be solved in isolation,” they were told.

Today, local media is sounding the alarm : without stable access to electricity, it’s a whole pan of freedom of expression and the right to information that is threatened in the small east African nation.