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.
Eskom’s restructuring path wouldn’t have been easy in simpler times, but in a period where its operational limitations have been laid bare and its revenue challenged by the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s been so much more challenging.
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.
More than a decade has passed since the last infrastructure-led boom in the SA economy, one fuelled by the need to prepare for the Fifa World Cup and to urgently begin expanding our electricity generation capacity.
Business Leadership South Africa today launched a report on solutions to boosting infrastructure investment to drive the economic recovery.
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.
After almost three years of hearing testimony at Judge Raymond Zondo’s judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture, there can be little arguing that the most difficult job in the cabinet today is that of turning around the prospects of many of our ailing state-owned enterprises.
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.