The central bank estimates that South Africa’s economic growth this year and over the next two would have been closer to 2% had it not been for frequent power cuts, according to Governor Lesetja Kganyago.
Although loadshedding, the local term for outages, “entered the South African lexicon 15 years ago, it has intensified over the past two years, placing a binding constraint on growth,” Kganyago said Friday at a meeting of the central bank’s shareholders.
Energy-Starved Vineyards Count Cost of South Africa Blackouts (July 28, 7 a.m.)
Loadshedding is also badly affecting the country’s more than 300-year-old wine industry. It’s impacting all stages of production, from irrigation to bottling.
If power cuts interrupt watering the vines can experience “partial stresses,” which can reduce the size and number of fruit, according to Wanda Augustyn, the communications manager for Vinpro, an industry body.
The 2023 harvest is estimated at about 1.2 million tonnes, 14.2% smaller than last year, according to the South African Wine Industry and Information Systems, an industry association.
The drop is attributed to a combination of factors, including cold, wet weather and the uprooting of vineyards due to disease. A lack of electricity in intensively irrigated areas negatively impacted crop sizes.
Read More: Energy-Starved Vineyards Count Cost of South Africa Blackouts
South Africa Starts Fund to Fast-Track Power Generation Projects (July 27, 3:32 p.m.)
South Africa has started a fund to help the government fast-track electricity-generation projects needed to end the country’s crippling energy crisis.
The Energy One Stop Shop and Resilience Fund will aim to streamline regulatory processes required for private investment in electricity production and help speed up the approval of projects, Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel said at a virtual launch on Thursday.
Read More: South Africa Starts Fund to Fast-Track Power Generation Projects
South African Companies Pledge Help as State Services Collapse (July 27, 11:08 a.m.)
More than 115 companies operating in South Africa representing over 1.2 million employees signed a pledge to help the government do its job, highlighting the collapse of the state’s ability to provide basic services ranging from electricity to policing.
The firms, which include Anglo American Plc and Glencore Plc, undertook to provide “funding, skills and expertise” to tackle “low economic growth, collapsing infrastructure, rampant crime and corruption,” according to a joint statement sent by email on Thursday.
Read More: South African Companies Pledge Help as State Services Collapse
New Projects in South Africa Plunge to the Lowest in Four Years (July 26, 12:09 p.m.)
Fixed investment in South Africa dropped by almost a third in the first half because of persistent power outages, rising interest rates and cost pressures that have weighed on profitability and eroded business confidence.
The value of new projects fell to an annualized 173.1 billion rand ($9.82 billion) in the six months through June, compared with 248.5 billion rand a year earlier, according to a report published by Nedbank Group Ltd., one of the country’s largest lenders, on Tuesday. That’s the lowest since 2019.
Read More: New Projects in South Africa Plunge to the Lowest in Four Years
--With assistance from Antony Sguazzin and Adelaide Changole.
