South Africa’s energy and transport reforms could create 500 000 jobs – World Bank

South Africa could increase its GDP growth by 1% in the short term and up to 3% in the medium term by addressing persistent energy and freight logistics constraints, the World Bank’s latest ‘South Africa Economic Update’ states. Such projected increases in economic activity, the report adds, could create about 200 000 jobs in the short term and 500 000 jobs in the medium term. The bank estimates that constraints in both sectors have cost the economy three to five percentage points of GDP growth, and have disproportionately affected small businesses and low-income households.
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Leslie Mkhabela appointed Eskom lead independent director

State-owned power utility Eskom has appointed Leslie Mkhabela as lead independent director, with effect from January 31. “The board appointed Mr Mkhabela as a lead independent director to strengthen governance and create an organisational structure with robust checks and balances. Leslie has consistently demonstrated decisive, ethical and inclusive leadership,” says Eskom chairperson Mteto Nyati.
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Diamond-dependent Botswana needs economic reset, new leader says

Botswana’s government will develop new industries, dismantle the State power utility to foster private investment and increase concessional borrowing as part of a plan to diversify the diamond-dependent economy, President Duma Boko said. While gems mined by Debswana — a venture between Anglo American’s De Beers unit and the government — account for 80% of Botswana’s economy, they aren’t creating enough jobs, which raises the risk of instability in the arid nation of 2.5-million people, Boko said in an interview. The country is mainland Africa’s richest relative to the size of the population.
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Eskom falls painfully short of going 365 days loadshedding-free

After having operated South Africa’s electricity system without resorting to rotational power cuts for 310 days, Eskom declared Stage 3 loadshedding at 17:00 on January 31, after the loss of 3 600 MW of coal capacity resulted in a depletion of diesel and pumped-storage reserves. Describing the development as a “sad moment” and a “setback”, Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Romokgopa nevertheless insisted that Eskom’s operational performance remained on an upward trend.
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Eskom forecasting full-year profit of R10bn, as it digests Nersa decision

Eskom has confirmed that it is forecasting to make a full-year profit of more that R10-billion for 2024/25, having reported a R17-billion profit for the interim period, up from the R1.6-billion recorded for the same period in 2023/24. The group reported an after-tax loss of R55-billion in its full 2023/24 financial year, a performance that was negatively affected by the derecognition of a R36.6-billion deferred tax asset associated with the separation of the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA).
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African Dawn Investments forms partnership to roll out EV chargers, BESSs across South Africa

Finance company African Dawn Investments has entered into a strategic collaboration with Singapore company WaterCloud International and Chinese original-equipment manufacturer Beny New Energy to spearhead the roll-out electric vehicle chargers (EVCs) and battery energy storage systems (BESSs) across South Africa. The roll out will begin in March and continue over the next five years.
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Eskom to implement Stage 3 loadshedding from 17:00

Eskom has announced that it will implement Stage 3 loadshedding from 17:00 on January 31, after warning earlier in the day that there was a high risk of loadshedding.   “This is a potentially temporary setback. Loadshedding is largely behind us due to the structural improvements in our generation fleet. However, over the past seven days, we have experienced several breakdowns that require extended repair times. “This has necessitated the use of all our emergency reserves, which now need to be replenished. Consequently, we are closely monitoring the status of our current emergency reserves, and loadshedding up to Stage 4 may be implemented over the weekend,” Eskom Group CE Dan Marokane said on Friday morning.
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Nersa grants Eskom 12.74% tariff hike

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the background to power utility Eskom’s MYPD6 tariff application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa); Nersa’s decision; and what is likely to happen next.  
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Eskom issues alert warning of high risk of loadshedding

After more than ten months of uninterrupted electricity supply due to the success of the Generation Recovery Plan, Eskom has issued an alert warning of a high risk of loadshedding at short notice.   “This is a potentially temporary setback. Loadshedding is largely behind us due to the structural improvements in our generation fleet. However, over the past seven days, we have experienced several breakdowns that require extended repair times. “This has necessitated the use of all our emergency reserves, which now need to be replenished. Consequently, we are closely monitoring the status of our current emergency reserves, and loadshedding up to Stage 4 may be implemented over the weekend.” said Eskom Group CE Dan Marokane.   Eskom will issue further updates in due course.
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Updated boilers yield significant improvements

The replacement of 78-year-old boilers at a Western Cape food processing plant by boiler operations and maintenance service provider Associated Energy Services (AES), has proven to be a valuable investment for the client as it significantly enhanced their entire production process, says AES.   This turnkey project – one of the largest in the sector and region – saw AES update the boiler house format, structure and technology.
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