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South Africa postpones nuclear power plant plan

Published

3 months ago

August 18, 2024

In response to legal objections, South Africa’s energy minister has announced that the country would postpone initiating the procurement process for a new nuclear power plant to allow for additional consultation.

In December, the government declared that it was getting ready to put out bids for an additional 2,500 megawatts (MW) of nuclear power. Nevertheless, two non-governmental organizations and the Democratic Alliance (DA), the then-opposition party, filed lawsuits to stop the procurement.

Following an election in May that saw the African National Congress lose its legislative majority for the first time in thirty years, the DA is now a coalition government member.

According to a statement from his office, President Cyril Ramaphosa also signed legislation into law that establishes the framework for a competitive power market.

The long-awaited changes to the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act are a part of the attempts to improve the efficiency of the power sector in the most industrialized country in Africa. Although there haven’t been any blackouts in over four months, rolling blackouts have been a problem for the past few years.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Kgosientsho Ramokgopa acknowledged that there ought to have been more public involvement up until this point when he announced the postponement of the nuclear purchase on Friday.

He declared that he had decided to remove a document from the government gazette that would have permitted the purchase to move forward.

After further public consultation, officials will revise a report that addresses the requirements the energy regulator set for its approval of the procurement.

It was made very evident by Ramokgopa that the government was committed to building more nuclear power at a rate and scale that the nation could afford, beyond the 1,900 MW Koeberg facility west of Cape Town.

“Nuclear is part of the future, but it’s important that as we go out and procure, the procurement process must be able to stand the test of time,” the minister said.

The only nation in Africa with a commercial nuclear power facility is South Africa. The Koeberg nuclear power station has two reactors that produce about 5% of the country’s electricity. The Vaalputs Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility in the Northern Cape is where spent fuel is disposed of.

Many South Africans are sceptical of the government’s nuclear aspirations following the 2017 court case that halted a 9,600 MW agreement with Russia that was started during Jacob Zuma’s scandal-plagued presidency.

Related Topics:Featured Nuclear energy South Africa

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IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

2 days 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

3 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.