Small business owners in the Federal Capital Territory said on Thursday that poor electricity supply was gradually collapsing their businesses as blackouts spread across many parts of Abuja, especially the satellite towns. Some areas were getting power for only four hours a day, while others had no supply at all.
For Muhammadu Isah, that has meant running a laundry business on generators and spending more on fuel just to keep operating. He said the costs were becoming too much to bear and that ironing customers’ clothes had become one of the hardest parts of the job because generators could not effectively power electric pressing irons. “The lack of power forces us to rely on generators to carry out our work, especially since we use washing machines for laundry,” Isah said. “We are facing serious challenges due to poor electricity supply because our business depends heavily on electricity.”
He said a large part of the business income now goes into buying petrol, and the shop has had to fall back on charcoal irons instead of electric pressing irons. That creates its own risks, he said, because someone can get burnt while lighting the charcoal iron, or customers’ clothes can be damaged. The higher fuel bill is worsening the strain on small businesses already squeezed by erratic supply and the cost of alternative power sources.
Amina Yusuf said the same problem was slowing production in her tailoring business. She said sewing machines, weaving machines and steaming equipment used to fix stones on clothes all require electricity, and the interruptions were making it harder to deliver orders on time. “When there is electricity, I can sew about four to five clothes in a day, but because of poor power supply, I can no longer meet my targets,” Yusuf said.
The complaints reflect a wider power problem in the FCT, where many parts have faced persistent blackouts and unreliable supply. For small operators, the issue is no longer just inconvenience. It is a daily drain on cash, output and customer confidence, and the business owners said the high cost of generators and fuel is now compounding the damage. The question for them is no longer whether electricity supply is poor. It is whether their businesses can survive long enough for it to improve.
