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€25m loan pledged for 44 MW Côte d’Ivoire hydroelectric plant

Infrastructure development funds, Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) and Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), have announced a €25-million finance facility to Ivoire Hydro Energy (IHE), which will build a 44 MW hydroelectric generation plant on the Bandama river near the village of Singrobo, in Côte d’Ivoire.

EAIF’s long-term financing package enables IHE to achieve financial close for the project, accelerating the design, construction and operation of the power plant and associated infrastructure and boosting rural access to clean energy.

January 10, 2023 by

DA says it will fight Eskom’s move to Energy Dept

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday that it is “implacably” against the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) intention to move Eskom from the Department of Public Enterprises to the Ministry of Energy, overseen by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe. The DA said the move also had potentially significant financial implications for the country.
January 10, 2023 by

Energy department to oversee Eskom

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the energy department will take over responsibility for overseeing state utility Eskom Holdings, which has been failing to meet the nation’s power demand since 2008. The change will be in line with a resolution adopted by the governing African National Congress at its national conference last week, which specified that state companies operating in specific economic sectors should be overseen by the relevant government departments. That could potentially signal a dissolution of the Department of Public Enterprises, which oversees Eskom, logistics company Transnet and several other entities.
January 9, 2023 by

Ramaphosa says Eskom CEO quit because ‘it’s a tough job’

The CEO of Eskom Holdings Andre de Ruyter resigned because “it’s a tough job,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, stressing that the government has a “cohesive” plan to resolve the national power shortage. Ramaphosa said the government is not “sleeping on the job,” with regard to the worst ever power cuts the nation has experienced and he has spoken to his ministers about the need for a uniform approach to the problem.
January 9, 2023 by

Policy Uncertainty Index improves to 53.2, but remains in negative territory

The North-West University Business School’s Policy Uncertainty Index (PUI) for the fourth quarter of 2022 eased to 53.2 points down from the 59.6 recorded in the third quarter, but it remains in negative territory above the 50-point baseline. Nevertheless, the positive factors in the fourth quarter outweighed the negatives to significantly reduce the fourth-quarter PUI.
January 9, 2023 by

New IAEA training tool used to assist Senegal with its nuclear research reactor project

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a specialist organisation of the United Nations system, highlighted on Friday that it has piloted a new training tool in Senegal, in support of the West African country’s plan to acquire a research reactor. The piloting of the new tool took place in Dakar, from December 12 to December 16. Designated the IAEA Human Resource Modelling Tool for New Research Reactor Programmes, the new training system is intended to help countries to determine and develop the skilled workforces they will need to implement new research reactor programmes. Using modelling, the tool will help these countries to address the human resources requirements of every step in such programmes, from planning research reactors to operating them.
January 9, 2023 by

Stefanutti submits more claims against Eskom for expert review

JSE-listed multidisciplinary construction group Stefanutti Stocks has advised shareholders that it has submitted an overarching preliminary and general cost claim, as well as a subcontractor overarching preliminary and general cost claim, of R337-million and R193-million, respectively, in relation to the Kusile power project. In addition to a construction cost claim of R438-million and a finance cost claim of R171-million, the total of all provisional claims submitted to the experts is R1.14-billion.
December 21, 2022 by