Day: January 29, 2023

DAKAR— The Dakar 2 Feed Africa Summit ended with a $30 billion pledge by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and development partners to finance food and agribusiness on the continent in the next five years.

Of the amount announced at the summit held in the Senegalese capital, the AfDB pledged to mobilize $10 billion.

Leaders who attended the event called on the African Union Commission and the AfDB to help mobilize more funding to top up the amount announced and report on the overall investment at the February African Union Summit.

Some 34 African heads of state and government, leaders of international and bilateral development organizations, and the private sector attended the in Summit, whose theme was “Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience”.

Concerned that rising food prices and disruption in global food supply due to Covid-19, climate change, and the war in Ukraine will worsen food insecurity in Africa, and noting that the continent has 65 percent of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land — with the potential to produce enough to feed its people and the rest of the world — the leaders mooted national food and agriculture delivery compacts to embed food targets in their development agenda.

Among the resolutions was the establishment of Presidential Delivery Councils to oversee the implementation of the country-specific compacts and promote accountability.

AfDB President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said that Africa’s agriculture sector will depend on strong political will and commitment of governments, development partners, and the private sector and the scaling up of highly impactful continental programs such as the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation.

He emphasized the place of infrastructure in transforming rural areas into agricultural production and processing zones.

“Infrastructure is very important and Africa has a deficit of $68 billion to $108 billion per year. The African Development Bank has in the past six years invested $44 billion in infrastructure: from power to roads, to water, to sanitation, to digital infrastructure, to transport corridors to one-stop border posts. But a lot of infrastructure in Africa concentrates in urban areas because the economic viability of infrastructure is low in the rural areas because they’re a source of livelihood — agriculture — is not viable. But we have special agro-industrial processing zones. These are going to change the density of infrastructure in rural areas around agriculture, power water, roads, irrigation storage, and logistics.

“It will make agricultural processing and value addition profitable, close to where the food is produced. So, you don’t need to move raw materials; you will move finished agricultural products,” Adesina said.

He said the bank has in the past two years invested $1 billion on 23 projects in special agro-industrial processing zones in 11 countries.

Participants sought support for agriculture-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs), burdened with an unmet financing need of about $100 billion annually.

The AfDB and the government of Canada announced the Agri-SME Catalytic Financing Mechanism, a blended finance facility that is expected to de-risk investment into small and medium agri-businesses and strengthen food systems across the continent.

With an initial contribution of $85 million from the Canadian government, the Mechanism will provide concessional finance and technical assistance to financial intermediaries, including agribusinesses, commercial banks, micro-finance institutions, and impact funds.

The summit also saw the launch of Mission 1 for 200, a joint program of the AfDB and the International Fund for Agricultural Development to help 40 million African farmers to produce 100 million tonnes of food for 200 million people.

Mission 1 for 200 is meant to build resilience by helping farmers adapt to climate change and reduce agriculture’s environmental impact and emissions.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

PRETORIA— The European Union announced it would invest more than 280 million euros in grants in South Africa to help the country green its coal-dependent economy.

The money will “support policy reforms on green recovery, unlock green investments and build a knowledge-based transition,” the bloc said in a statement.

“Together with South Africa, we are committed to a decarbonisation pathway,” the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, who is in Pretoria for talks, said in the statement.

Africa has become a renewed diplomatic battleground since the Ukraine war began, with South Africa and other countries on the continent aggressively courted by Russia and China and the West.

The EU said the money came as part of the bloc’s recently unveiled Global Gateway initiative, which is in part aimed at countering China’s growing influence.

South Africa has championed complaints from developing nations that too much of the climate change aid they receive from rich countries comes in the form of loans instead of grants.

Part of the EU funds will go towards the greening of municipal services and help repurpose coal power plants.

South Africa, one of the world’s top 12 largest polluters, generates about 80 percent of its electricity through coal.

The grants add to $8.5 billion that the continent’s most industrialised economy was pledged in 2021 by the EU the Britain, France, Germany and the United States.

US Treasury chief Janet Yellen, who was also in South Africa on Friday, said Washington is contributing more than $1-billion under the scheme dubbed the Just Energy Transition Partnership.

The US “is firmly committed to this engagement,” she said, as she visited the eastern Mpumalanga province, South Africa’s coal mining hub.

Recent studies suggest more jobs will be created than lost in South Africa by going green, but analysts say the swap will not be painless.

“We must demonstrate quickly that these coal communities… will not be left behind in the context of an energy shift that benefits other regions,” Yellen said after touring a US-funded renewable energy job training facility for women.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

The country’s energy action plan continues to be implemented in earnest, with the long-term goal of securing continuous, credible energy supply.

Minister in The Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said: “As a country we must acknowledge that there is no immediate panacea to this crisis; however citizens must note that work is underway to ensure full and effective implementation of the Energy Action Plan. Like the COVID-19 pandemic, the current energy crisis raises the necessity for a societal response. All parts of society need to pull together and play our respective roles if we are to overcome the electricity crisis. The energy crisis we are facing is not unique to South Africa. There is currently a global energy crisis, and therefore we must work together to address the crisis.”

Work is underway to improve the performance of power stations to reduce stages of load shedding and government is driving work to bring more capacity onto the grid as quickly as possible. Progress has been made in several areas since the adoption of the Energy Action Plan. Some of the successes thus far include: the relaxation of some requirements which will enable quicker procurement and the removal of licensing requirements for generation projects to enable private investment. As part of rebuilding technical capacity in Eskom, 18 skilled specialists have been brought back into the utility, including three former power station managers who will assist at Kendal, Koeberg and Medupi. There have also been collaborative efforts with external stakeholders who have displayed willingness to assist Eskom. Additional focus is being placed on prioritising maintenance at the top six stations (Duvha, Kendal, Kusile, Majuba, Matla and Tutuka). These stations were specifically selected as they are amongst the highest contributors to unplanned load losses.

There is also a process underway to establish a One Stop Shop, which will be a single entry point for energy projects through Invest SA. A business case has been developed outlining resource and operational requirements. Furthermore, timeframes have been significantly reduced for regulatory approvals in the areas of land-use authorisation, registration process, and embedded generation projects.

“These examples of interventions that are underway demonstrate the urgency that is being put into fixing the energy challenges. These cannot be implemented overnight; however as a nation, we will overcome as we did with many challenges before this. The Action Plan addresses 10 focus areas which will result in improving people, plant and process performance. If we all play our part, even in small ways, we contribute towards the bigger goal of improving generation to at least 70% by the year 2025,” added Gungubele.

The other part of the response, which will both ease load shedding and ensure energy security into the future, is to enable the construction of substantial new generating capacity. Some of this power will be bought by Eskom through the renewable energy programme, which has been an expanded and accelerated. In the last six months, agreements have been signed with independent power producers for 26 projects, which together will generate around 2,800 MW. Another major source of new generating capacity will be solar panels on the roofs of houses and businesses. Work will soon be completed on a pricing structure that will allow customers to sell surplus electricity from rooftop solar panels into the grid. That way, they can meet their own power needs and help increase the amount of electricity on the grid.

In addition government welcomes the 25 arrests that have been made recently in connection with sabotage, theft and fraud at Eskom. Crimes against the national grid often involve a combination of so-called insiders and criminal value chains involving private individuals or corrupt businesses. Organised crime is being confronted by our multi-agency approach.

Government understands the frustration and inconvenience loadshedding is causing. However, loadshedding is implemented only as a last resort in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns.

Source: Government of South Africa

Government continues to implement the country’s Energy Action Plan in earnest, with the long-term goal of securing continuous, credible energy supply.

“As a country we must acknowledge that there is no immediate panacea to this crisis. However, citizens must note that work is underway to ensure full and effective implementation of the Energy Action Plan,” Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said on Sunday.

To respond to the severe impact of load shedding on households, small businesses and the economy as a whole, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a range of measures in July 2022 to improve the performance of existing power stations and add new generation capacity as quickly as possible.

The Energy Action Plan was developed through extensive consultation and endorsed by energy experts as providing the best and fastest path towards energy security.

While Government understands the frustration and the inconvenience that loadshedding is causing, it has reiterated that loadshedding is implemented only as a last resort in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to attend to breakdowns.

Government has assured citizens that work is underway to improve the performance of power stations to reduce stages of load shedding while driving work to bring more capacity onto the grid as quickly as possible.

According to the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), progress has been made in several areas since the adoption of the Energy Action Plan.

These include the relaxation of some requirements, which will enable quicker procurement, and the removal of licensing requirements for generation projects to enable private investment.

“As part of rebuilding technical capacity in Eskom, 18 skilled specialists have been brought back into the utility, including three former power station managers who will assist at Kendal, Koeberg and Medupi.

“There have also been collaborative efforts with external stakeholders who have displayed willingness to assist Eskom. Additional focus is being placed on prioritising maintenance at the top six stations (Duvha, Kendal, Kusile, Majuba, Matla and Tutuka). These stations were specifically selected as they are amongst the highest contributors to unplanned load losses,” GCIS said.

There is also a process underway to establish a One Stop Shop, which will be a single entry point for energy projects through Invest SA.

A business case has been developed outlining resource and operational requirements.

Furthermore, timeframes have been significantly reduced for regulatory approvals in the areas of land-use authorisation, registration process, and embedded generation projects.

“These examples of interventions that are underway demonstrate the urgency that is being put into fixing the energy challenges. These cannot be implemented overnight; however, as a nation, we will overcome as we did with many challenges before this.

“The Action Plan addresses 10 focus areas which will result in improving people, plant and process performance. If we all play our part, even in small ways, we contribute towards the bigger goal of improving generation to at least 70% by the year 2025,” Gungubele said.

In an effort to both ease load shedding and ensure energy security into the future, South Africa will need to enable the construction of substantial new generating capacity.

“Some of this power will be bought by Eskom through the renewable energy programme, which has been expanded and accelerated. In the last six months, agreements have been signed with independent power producers for 26 projects, which together will generate around 2 800 MW,” the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) said in a statement.

Another major source of new generating capacity will be solar panels on the roofs of houses and businesses.

Work will soon be completed on a pricing structure that will allow customers to sell surplus electricity from rooftop solar panels into the grid. That way, they can meet their own power needs and help increase the amount of electricity on the grid.

“Like the COVID-19 pandemic, the current energy crisis raises the necessity for a societal response. All parts of society need to pull together and play our respective roles if we are to overcome the electricity crisis. The energy crisis we are facing is not unique to South Africa. There is currently a global energy crisis, and therefore we must work together to address the crisis,” the Minister said.

Meanwhile, government has welcomed 25 arrests that have been made recently in connection with sabotage, theft and fraud at Eskom.

“Crimes against the national grid often involve a combination of so-called insiders and criminal value chains involving private individuals or corrupt businesses. Organised crime is being confronted by our multi-agency approach,” GCIS said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Eskom has assured the public that there are no plans to retrench any staff members nor has a decision to retrench any employees been taken.

This assertion comes after trade union Solidarity alleged in an article that Eskom intends to retrench 500 employees, whom it alleged are “white maintenance workers,” as part of the latest Employment Equity Plan for 2023 – 2025.

In a statement of Friday, the power utility refuted the claims.

“Retrenchments in South Africa are regulated by Section 189 (3) of the Labour Relations Act of 1995, with strict requirements on appropriate consultations with all the relevant stakeholders, including the recognized trade unions.

“These consultations must clearly spell out the reasons and conditions under which retrenchments can be allowed. Discrimination based on race or gender do not qualify as a criterion for retrenchment,” Eskom said.

Eskom said the document referred to in the article is part of internal consultations on employment equity with trade unions, which amongst others seek to verify information for correctness, solicit inputs on targets as well as the required affirmative action measures.

“As per consultation process, all parties are afforded an opportunity to engage, clarify, suggest alternatives before final decisions are taken.

“It is rather unfortunate, opportunistic, and unprofessional for Solidarity, or any party to the confidential internal consultations, to opt to cause unnecessary panic and fear, creating sensation among our staff and in the media before allowing the internal process to make the appropriate decision.

“Eskom’s transformation agenda and employment practices are guided by our values, operational requirements, and the country’s labour laws rather than race. We are committed to achieving diversity, equity and inclusion in a responsible and sustainable manner,” Eskom said.

Resolving the energy challenge

Meanwhile, Eskom acknowledged the concerns of all South Africans regarding the current energy crisis.

“We have put in place measures to bolster the critical skills required to improve plant performance. Amongst other, as Eskom has regularly communicated, these include recruiting the retired former employees and other specialists’ skills that have the potential to help solve the energy crisis. There are South Africans of all hues and gender,” Eskom said.

To respond to the severe impact of load shedding on households, small businesses and the economy as a whole, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a range of measures in July 2022 to improve the performance of existing power stations and add new generation capacity as quickly as possible.

The Energy Action Plan was developed through extensive consultation and endorsed by energy experts as providing the best and fastest path towards energy security.

Intensive work is underway to implement the plan, which aims to, firstly, improve the performance of Eskom power stations, and, secondly, to bring new generating capacity onto the system as quickly as possible.

The Energy Action Plan focuses on five main tasks:

Fix Eskom and improve the availability of existing supply.

Enable and accelerate private investment in generation capacity.

Accelerate procurement of new capacity from renewables, gas and battery storage.

Unleash businesses and households to invest in rooftop solar.

Fundamentally transform the electricity sector to achieve long-term energy security.

Since it was announced in July 2022, there has been important progress in implementing the Energy Action Plan.

While the benefits may not be felt immediately, this work is going to contribute to reducing load shedding in the months ahead and ultimately to end it.

Among the areas where progress has been made:

The licensing requirement for embedded generation projects has been removed. Since government first raised the licensing threshold to 100 MW, the pipeline of private sector projects has grown to more than 100 projects with over 9,000 MW of capacity. Government expects the first of these projects to connect to the grid by the end of this year.

Agreements have been signed with independent power producers for 26 renewable energy projects, which together will generate around 2,800 MW. Construction on these projects will soon start.

An additional 300 MW has been imported through the Southern African Power Pool, and negotiations are underway to secure a potential 1,000 MW from neighbouring countries.

Eskom has also launched a programme to purchase up to 1,000 MW of power from companies with existing generation capacity for a period of three years.

Government has cut red tape and streamlined regulatory processes, reducing the timeframes for environmental authorisations, registration of new projects and grid connection approvals.

Government has established a team of independent experts to work closely with Eskom to diagnose the problems at poorly performing power stations and take action to improve plant performance. Six power stations have been identified for particular focus over the coming months in order to recover additional capacity.

Source: South African Government News Agency