Before candles, Zimbabwe “had” electricity — this question is a well-known joke, not a literal history query.

Quick Scoop

What this question really is

The phrase “what did Zimbabwe have before candles?” is a setup for a gag that’s been circulating on social media, meme pages, and joke sites for years.

The “punchline” is:

“What did Zimbabwe have before candles?”
“Electricity.”

It plays on Zimbabwe’s recurring power cuts and the idea that people now rely on candles or other backup light sources during blackouts.

Why people are talking about it now

  • The line shows up often in comment sections, joke sites, and TikTok/shorts as a quick one‑liner about load‑shedding and power outages in Zimbabwe.
  • It taps into real frustration: long electricity cuts mean people sometimes study, cook, or even give birth by candlelight when the grid fails.

Is there any serious “history” behind it?

If taken literally, people in what is now Zimbabwe historically used things like open fires, oil or fat lamps, and later kerosene/paraffin lamps before widespread electric lighting and cheap factory candles, just like many other regions in the world.

But in modern internet culture, the question almost always appears as a joke about electricity vs. candles today , not as a genuine history question.

TL;DR: The popular answer to “what did Zimbabwe have before candles” is “electricity” — it’s a modern joke about power cuts and candle use during blackouts, not a literal historical fact.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.