The signing, by 44 African countries, of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is encouraging, albeit that the development is at odds with the current global backlash against freer... 

One of the few positives arising from the disastrous period during which President Jacob Zuma occupied the Union Buildings is the fact that it appears to have woken up Parliament, albeit belatedly,... 

South Africans should be in no doubt that the content and tone of the conversation about electricity has shifted decisively, notwithstanding the unexpected decision by the Department of Energy to... 

The change to South Africa’s electricity balance over the past few years has been well documented. Nevertheless it is still quite remarkable. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa)... 

Having initially exercised some restraint in his retention of Dipuo Peters as Energy Minister from May 2009 to July 2013, former President Jacob Zuma grew increasingly agitated by the lack of... 

Necessity, it is said, is the mother of invention. However, in the case of South Africa’s embattled State-owned companies (SOCs), necessity is undoubtedly also the mother of pragmatism. In his... 

South Africans have become more than accustomed to the slow-slow-quick-quick-slow steps of the national political dance. However, if there is to be any prospect of a sustained economic, social and... 

It seems an eternity since there has been anything to be excited about when it comes to South Africa’s most important, and most embattled, State-owned company (SoC), Eskom. Since 2008, the business... 

The main disruption in the global energy milieu over the past five years has been a “disruption in the mindset,” Engie CEO Isabelle Kocher asserted during a recent panel discussion at the World... 

For those of us in the media, Eskom is the gift that keeps on giving. For ten years, hardly a week has gone by without the embattled power utility inspiring a shock headline of crisis, corruption... 

Eskom’s debt refinancing is undoubtedly a critical burning platform. The clock is most definitely ticking and the consequences of not closing the immediate financial chasm will be dire not only for... 

2018 is set to be yet another big year for the South African electricity utility, which has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons for more than ten years now. Dealing with the fiscal and... 

By this time next week, our general dismal assessment of 2017 will either have been confirmed, or entirely overhauled. If Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (NDZ) has been elected African National Congress... 

I could not agree more with Energy Minister David Mahlobo’s recent Parliamentary reply, in which he stated that there was no longer a need to build large power generation units, owing to the... 

There very were few sharp exchanges during the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) public hearings into Eskom’s 2018/19 revenue application. However, one particular exchange... 

Without doubt, the problems at Eskom, together with the ongoing debate over nuclear, are making it extremely difficult for South Africans to pay proper attention to some of the game-changing shifts... 

National Energy Regulator of South Africa and Eskom executives will naturally be relieved that hearings into the State-owned utility’s revenue application for 2018/19 have drawn to an end. However,... 

As public hearings into Eskom’s application for allowable revenue in 2018/19 of R219.5-billion enter their final stretch, resistance to the proposed 19.9% tariff hike from April 1 remains as strong... 

While there are very few positives to draw from Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba’s maiden Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), his acknowledgement that Eskom poses an “enormous risk” to the... 

We know for certain what President Jacob Zuma’s latest Cabinet reshuffle was not. It was not about South Africa, or about good governance. It was not about doing what is necessary to place the... 

Last year, when Eskom illegally put the brakes on the country’s hitherto successful renewables roll-out, new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity around the world grew by 50%, reaching over 74 GW. The... 

In the World Bank’s tenth and most recent ‘South Africa Economic Update’, the risk of “fiscal slippage” is highlighted as arguably the country’s most worrying immediate downside risk. The report... 

Restoring good governance at Eskom is undoubtedly the most pressing priority for the State-owned utility and arguably among the top five current priorities for government itself. Absent an... 

For all the wrong reasons, Eskom’s profile has remained high despite the stabilisation in electricity supply over the past year and a bit. Most of the current news flow has to do with governance... 

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has outlined the process it will be following to assess Eskom’s request for a 19.9% tariff increase for the 2018/19 financial year, setting a... 

Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has confirmed that the Department of Energy (DoE) is “working around the clock” to finalise the updated Integrated Resource Plan (IRP); a document that will outline... 

Hardly a day goes by when there isn’t a new and disturbing headline about governance, or the lack thereof, at one of South Africa’s State-owned companies (SOCs). To be sure, when historians reflect... 

For many observers of global political and economic developments, the recent coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in the US would have epitomised the current state of the world: a blocking out of... 

For attentive followers of developments in South Africa’s not-always-transparent energy sector, a section in Jackkie Cilliers’ new book, ‘Fate of the Nation: Three Scenarios for South Africa’s... 

South Africa may be on the global sidelines currently with regard to the procurement of new renewable generation capacity, chiefly because of Eskom’s refusal to enter into new power purchase... 

The decision of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to publish the identities of its new clients, including those officially identified as politically exposed people (PEPs), should be... 

One of the more interesting recommendations contained in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) 2017 economic survey of South Africa relates to how higher education...