After what seemed like years of relentless downgrading of our economic prospects — and in turn the government’s ability to fund its growing debt — the move by one of the world’s three leading ratings agencies, S&P Global Ratings, to leave our rating unchanged and keep the outlook stable is a relief.
Whenever the topic of structural reform is raised in South Africa, it’s invariably linked to the story of Eskom and the country’s dependence on its ageing coal-fired power stations that have held back growth for more than a decade.
With an energy grid still in a desperate position as Eskom struggles to meet demand with its ageing fleet of coal-fired power stations, the procurement of additional and clean forms of power remains one of the top to-do items for the year.
Essential to the creation of this “new” economy is bridging the digital divide.
We can only brace ourselves for what may emerge in a third wave that many experts are pencilling in for June or July.
If ever we needed reminding of the electricity challenges that we still face as we head into our colder months, the return of load-shedding over the past few weeks was just it.
By Busi Mavuso
Taking over the political oversight of ailing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) such as Eskom was always going to be one of the more difficult jobs in the administration of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The confidence-sapping news of yet another delay in the auction of spectrum for telecommunications operators highlights yet another area of concern in South Africa’s pursuit of structural reforms: the limitations of SA’s key regulatory institutions.
What a “stark” difference a few months can make in the life and finances of a country. At the tail-end of last year, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni, sounded alarm bells about the possible deterioration in the fiscus to levels comparable to that of Argentina, the poster child of economic ruin over the past three decades.
Some political players are resorting to conspiracy theories to pin the blame for the poor investment sentiment towards South Africa on investors.
By Busi Mavuso
From every vantage point, the state of the nation address in 2021 was the most difficult for any modern-day SA president given the unusual challenges.
Delivering a state-of-the nation address when your country nears the 50,000-fatality mark from Covid-19 must rank as the most difficult that any modern-day South African president has had to do. The difficulties have been compounded by questions arising about the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has slowed the rollout in SA. Under these conditions,…