Most people in Zimbabwe have electricity. Zimbabwe has 97% mobile penetration: http://afkinsider.com/20015/report-zimbabwe-has-97-mobile-pe...
Last time I checked their phones didn't run on magic, but on electricity :) And all you need to use Bitcoin is a cellphone (a $20 smartphone).
(No I am not seriously suggesting Zimbabwe uses Bitcoin. I am just pointing out you seem to incorrectly think all people in African countries live in huts or something.)
You don't need to have electricity 24/7 everywhere, you only need it in one place in a village for few hours so that everyone can get their phones charged on a regular basis.
There are exceptions to every rule, in Zimbabwe you could have 24/7 electricity and a fibre optic internet connection in some areas, and I can't even get fibre to my place in South Africa.
It's been there for several years conceptually as a plan to deal with limited capacity. Meaning it comes and goes.
For the good part of the last 3 years it's hardly been there (so unnoticeable one would probably say power is hardly/never cut). Its just been more impactful in the past few months & the last few months of last year.
Generators/Inverters aren't rare in the suburbs or in the further outlying areas. At least not anymore. Not everyone, but one could hear someone else's close by/a neighbors.
