Star 2024-12-06

South African energy trading company, Etana Energy, aims to unlock R9 billion of new renewable energy investment through a groundbreaking deal with GuarantCo, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), and British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor. GuarantCo and BII will provide $100 million ($50m each) of default guarantee finance for Etana in South Africa’s largest “energy wheeling framework” transaction. It is expected that the $100m in guarantee financing will unlock an estimated R9bn of new renewable energy projects, providing a major boost to South Africa’s green energy transition and underlining the UK’s support for the country’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). This innovative type of deal is designed to unlock new renewable energy capacity by providing independent power producers (IPPs) with the…

Citi South Africa yesterday said it believed that the country was showing early signs of economic recovery and could exit the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) greylist by the middle of next year, in spite of stubborn economic and structural issues. The FATF increased monitoring on South Africa and placed it in a greylist after finding several areas of concern, including inadequate anti-money laundering controls. Gina Schoeman, Citi South Africa economist, said during a virtual briefing yesterday that South Africa had emerged from the elections as “quite a mature democracy”. Schoeman said South Africa was unlikely to reach 3% gross domestic product (GDP) growth over the next two years. “A 2% to 2.5% range seems more likely,” she said. Schoeman’s prediction comes on the heels of a shocking GDP print…

Director of the Infrastructure Finance Advisory Institute expresses cautious optimism The African Development Bank (AfDB) has revealed that it is in talks with South Africa’s state-owned freight and logistics firm, Transnet, to revive plans to establish a rolling-stock company that would supply the southern African region and the rest of the continent from as early as next year. This comes as the AfDB today released the first tranche in a series of four payments of the $1 billion (R18.85bn) loan, which was granted to Transnet earlier this year to support the company’s turnaround plan, which includes allowing private sector participation in its operations. Solomon Quaynor, vice-president for private sector, infrastructure and industrialisation at the AfDB, yesterday said they were looking at the structural reforms implemented by the South African government…

The South African government has been stopped in its tracks from procuring an additional 1 500MW of coal-fired power to the national grid. The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday reviewed and set aside the decision of the Minister of Minerals and Petroleum Resources, as well as the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), to include an additional 1 500MW of coal-fired power in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP2019). Judge Cornelius van der Westhuizen upheld the constitutional challenge to the inclusion of these megawatts to the IRP2019, also declaring the Ministerial Determination, which in 2020 made provisions for the inclusion of 1 500MW as well as the concurrence by Nersa, to be inconsistent with the Constitution, unlawful and invalid. The case was brought by three youth-based…

Bitcoin breached the key $100 000 mark on a confluence of political events yesterday, including the toppling of the French government, civil unrest in South Korea, and US President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Bitcoin advocate Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates cryptocurrency. Yet this run is not over, said Nigel Green, the CEO of the deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory and asset management organisations. Green pointed to the digital currency moving beyond $100 000 as investors seek a safe haven. Bitcoin reached $102 444 yesterday at 1.30pm South African time. “When governments falter or act unpredictably, people inevitably seek alternatives that don’t rely on institutional trust. That’s where decentralised currencies come in,” Green said. Unlike fiat currencies, which are…

Yesterday, I attended the Trade and Investment Seminar, part of the Atlanta Phambili initiative, alongside US Ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety. The event showcased the growing collaboration between South Africa and the city of Atlanta, a relationship that holds much promise for trade and investment. The positive sentiment in the room was palpable, highlighting the strengthening investment case for South Africa. We all know the importance of deepening trade ties with America, especially with the wild card that is Donald Trump soon to be back at the helm. Trump's tariffs are a worry, as is his potential treatment of Africa. South Africa must tread carefully, balancing its North-South and South-South relationships while keeping an eye on economic benefits. As Africa's population continues to grow, contrasting with the West's decline,…