South African economy slowly recovering post-pandemic – TIPS

The latest Real Economy Bulletin (REB), published by economic research institution Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) on December 8, points to an upswing in South Africa’s economy and its trade and investment performance, with gross domestic product (GDP) exceeding pre-Covid-19 levels for the first time.

This outcome points to considerable resilience, especially around private-sector adaptations to the extraordinarily high levels of loadshedding over the past quarter.

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Uganda says will not renew Eskom’s hydropower licences next year

Uganda said on Friday it would not renew South Africa power firm Eskom’s licences to run two hydropower stations when they expire in March next year, as part of plans to bring the electricity sector under government control to reduce costs to consumers. The government will create the Uganda National Electricity Company Limited (UNECL), a state-run company to manage the generation, transmission and distribution segments of the electricity sector, the ministry of energy and mineral development said in a statement.
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Organised business urges govt to fund Eskom diesel

Organised business has called on government to fund adequate and reliable diesel supply for the country’s national peaking generators, which it describes as critical to ensuring that Eskom can best manage a stable grid and mitigate a further escalation in loadshedding levels. In a joint business statement on loadshedding, the Energy Council of South Africa, Business Unity South Africa and Business Leadership South Africa said that, while they recognise diesel generation to be a short-term measure, it was nevertheless “an important bridge for the ongoing maintenance work and unplanned outages over the next six months”.
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Business shows support for Eskom leadership amid loadshedding crisis

Business and South Africa’s energy sector have emphasised their support for Eskom’s current leadership, who have come under fire for the latest prolonged bout of load shedding, especially from Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe. “We strongly urge that it is a time for calm and well-executed actions, and we express our support for Eskom leadership and staff who are managing through this crisis,” the Energy Council of South Africa, Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), and Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) said in a joint statement.
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Solar-supported South Deep consolidates future-mine strategy

South Deep, Gold Fields’ Westonaria-based flagship gold mine, is entering the final stage of a four-part strategic journey it embarked on in 2017 to stabilise the operation, improve sustainability and longevity, reduce operational costs, improve efficiencies and ensure it meets the criteria to be classified as a mine of the future. From the third quarter of 2017 to the first quarter of 2018, Gold Fields started the journey to reshape South Deep by conducting the first stage of the strategy to identify and analyse challenges at the mine, which it plans to address, says Gold Fields South Deep executive VP Martin Preece.
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HPL threatens industry recovery

The Health Promotion Levy (HPL), commonly known as the sugar tax, still poses the greatest threat to the continued existence of the sugar industry, says South African Sugar Association (SASA) executive director Trix Trikam. The HPL has resulted in the beverages sector reformulating its products away from sugar to avoid the levy, leading to substantial revenue loss for the sugar industry.
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Rheinmetall to produce solar panels in South Africa

German industrial group Rheinmetall plans to build its first South African plant to produce photovoltaic (PV) panels for the power-deprived local market, a company executive told Reuters on Thursday. The decline of debt-crippled state utility Eskom has this year led to the worst power cuts on record in Africa’s most industrialised economy. This week most South Africans have been without power for at least six hours a day.
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Plugging research gaps essential to understanding state of renewables employment

A new report published by Trade and Industrial Policies Strategies (TIPS) has indicated that research gaps must be addressed to better establish employment numbers and characteristics, including the quality of jobs, in the venture capital firms supplying the renewable energy industries in South Africa. The report – ‘The state of research on renewable energy value chains in South Africa: Firms and employment characteristics – outlines challenges, such as inconsistent employment measures and methods, including differing uses and applications of job metrics.
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Opportunities, challenges in local value chain for solar, wind energy

Two new reports published by Trade and Industrial Policies Strategies (TIPS), relating to solar and wind energy respectively, point out that electricity market reform is likely to drive an increase in solar and wind energy projects across the country, which will, in turn, increase demand for components and services in these industries.   For solar, the report – ‘Insights into the solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing value chain in South Africa’ – indicates the critical need for reliable and sustained demand. as well as policy certainty, in the solar PV space.
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SAWEA expresses grave concern over grid-access rules as no wind project prevails under expanded …

The South African Wind Energy Associations (SAWEA) has expressed dismay that none of the 23 wind-project bids submitted as part of government’s latest and expanded renewables procurement round were selected preferred bidders and expressed concern about the current system for allocating grid access. Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe announced on December 8 that only sixth solar projects, with a combined capacity of 1 000 MW, had been appointed a preferred bidders following the sixth bid window (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Progamme.
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