info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
Image from Tech Central
It is reported that South Africa will spend billions of rand to maintain the energy needs of large projects in Africa.
The government has signalled a willingness to buy 5GW of power from a planned US$18-billion (R240-billion) hydropower project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, double what it agreed to take in 2013. It also wants to bring natural gas from fields off the shore of northern Mozambique to Gauteng, possibly via a 2 600km pipeline that could cost as much as $6-billion.
Large-scale energy projects within South Africa have been a drag on the economy. Eskom, which supplies more than 90% of the nation's power, is building two of the world's largest coal-fired power stations that should add 9.6GW to the national grid once complete. The Medupi and Kusile plants were supposed to be fully operational by 2015, but are running years behind schedule and their projected cost has more than doubled to R292-billion.
The government's ambitions of sourcing energy from other African countries aren't limited to electricity — it's also signed an agreement to invest $1-billion in oil projects in South Sudan, which is emerging from a civil war.
With Ramaphosa aiming to lure $100-billion in investment for South Africa over the next five years, and with $25-billion directed at the energy industry, the government's interest in projects abroad could be sending a wrong message.
