South Africa transmission firm seen hobbled by Eskom millstone

South Africa’s plan to create a power transmission company that will attract the investment needed to strengthen the national grid has been hobbled by its restrictive debt arrangements with parent Eskom Holdings, two people familiar with the situation said. Under the plan to separate the unit, which Eskom presented to its creditors on June 10, the national power utility will extend a R39.9-billion loan to the National Transmission Company of South Africa, or NTCSA. That funding will be guaranteed by the NTCSA’s assets if Eskom, which is R396-billion in debt, doesn’t meet its own obligations.