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South Africa close to end of power crisis— Electricity Minister

Published

1 year ago

July 2, 2023

South Africa’s electricity minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has revealed that the country is close to the end of the power crisis which has lasted for months and crippled its economy.

Ramokgopa, who declined to give a specific date for the restoration, took the position on Sunday that the end of daily power cuts was imminent as warmer weather returned towards the end of the year.

Being one of Africa’s most industrialized economies, the power outages have threatened businesses and the general economy of the country. In an effort to resolve the crisis, President Cyril Ramaphosa labelled the situation a tragedy in February and named Ramokgopa as Minister of Electricity.

“I know when we get into summer conditions, then at the current rate, generation will greatly surpass demand,” Ramokgopa said.

The worst-case scenario of peak winter demand of 34,000 megawatts (MW) has not materialized, he said, thanks to interventions on system maintenance and availability, as well as efforts from businesses and homes. The minister also noted that the capacity available was plateauing at roughly 29,000 MW, leaving room to reduce the power outages to Stage 3, where 3,000 MW are taken off the grid, resulting in between two and four hours of daily outages.

According to Ramokgopa, the nation had moved from Stage 6 to Stage 3 of blackouts in just six weeks, indicating that electricity generation was starting to keep up with demand.

He predicted that there would be a day without a blackout in South Africa shortly. “We are quite close to that day, I want to tell the South African people,” he remarked.

Related Topics:Eskom Featured Power crisis South Africa

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

10 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.