Government concerned about GDP data after outages

South Africa’s government is concerned about the impact that power outages had on the economy in the second quarter, as the nation’s statistics agency prepares to release data for the three-month period. “I am worried about tomorrow’s stats,” Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele told reporters Monday at the start of a cabinet strategic-planning meeting in Pretoria, the capital. “There has been huge load-shedding and we don’t know how it has impacted the economy,” he said, using the local term for scheduled blackouts.
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Eskom seeks automation solution for generation unit’s warehouses

State-owned electricity utility Eskom has issued a tender seeking service providers for the automation of spares- and warehouse-management processes across its generation division, which has been prone to incidents of theft. Eskom issued a request for proposals for a Barcoding and Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID, solution within Eskom’s Generation warehouses with a closing date of September 19.
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South Africa’s New Energy Vehicle Roadmap to be production-led, Patel confirms

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel insists that South Africa’s New Energy Vehicle (NEV) Roadmap is taking shape amid warnings that, absent urgent government decisions on the future support framework, the domestic automotive manufacturing sector is at serious risk. He has also indicated that the NEV support framework would seek to use and build on the architecture in place under the second phase of the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP2) and would be production- rather than consumption-led.
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Ghana upgrades status of its nuclear power programme

The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, has ordered that the Ghana Nuclear Power Programme Organisation (GNPPO) be transferred from the Ministry of Energy to the Office of the President, “World Nuclear News” has reported. This was, he said in his statement, “to enhance proper coordination among the key institutions already established”. In 2008, the then Ghanaian government decided that nuclear power should form part of the country’s future energy mix. This led to the formation of the GNPPO in 2012, and in 2013 the country formally submitted a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), declaring its intention of developing a peaceful nuclear energy programme.
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