It is not a deficit of resources that is holding Africa back but rather a deficit of belief in Africa’s prospects as a formidable player in the global political economy, African Union (AU) infrastructure and energy commissioner Lerato Mataboge said at the Youth Energy Summit, in Cape Town, on June 18. “This is the antithesis of the AU’s Agenda 2063. Until we internally hold a positive view of ourselves and our continent, the Agenda 2063 moonshots will remain elusive. As the AU, we hold the firm belief of Africa’s positive and impactful role in the global economy, historically, currently and in the future,” she said.
South African National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi) CEO Dr Titus Mathe reports that consultations at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) on the latest draft of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for electricity are close to being concluded. In a response to questions posed on the IRP during a briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy on Sanedi’s strategic plan, Mathe deferred questions on when an updated IRP would be Gazetted to the Department of Electricity and Energy (DEE).
South African Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has affirmed that Africa did not face a choice between decarbonisation and industrialisation. On the contrary, it had to, and could do, both. He was delivering the keynote address at the Africa Energy Forum 2025, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, on Tuesday evening. “We will not accept the false binary between decarbonisation and industrialisation,” he stated. Decarbonisation could not be used to block African aspirations. It had to support African aspirations.