The world’s richest countries are courting South Africa as a model of how to transition to a more climate-friendly future from a dependency on coal. While $5-billion of cheap loans and grants are on offer as a first step, transforming Africa’s most industrialized economy demands more than cash. It needs to win over power brokers like Gwede Mantashe, a former coal unionist who is now energy minister and chairman of the ruling African National Congress, to weaken the nation’s reliance on the black rock.
