5 important things happening in South Africa today
·12 Dec 2023
Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:
- PetroSA picks Russian partner: South African state-owned oil company PetroSA has selected Russian state-owned financier Gazprombank as its investor partner in a R3.7 billion deal to revive its gas-to-liquid fuel refinery in Mossel Bay, despite the risk of secondary sanctions from the US. [News24]
- South Africa gives green light to three solar facilities: The National Energy Regulator of South Africa granted distribution licenses to the Klipfontein, Leliehoek and Sonoblomo solar facilities (all in Dealesville, Free State) in hopes of boosting electricity distribution as the country endures almost daily power cuts. [Bloomberg]
- Electric cars during an electricity crisis: South Africa’s Trade Minister, Ebrahim Patel, has stated that the country plans to utilize a portion of the $8.8 billion climate funding from some of the world’s wealthiest nations to manufacture electric vehicles. This is seen as an uphill battle as the country has experienced nearly 7,000 hours of load-shedding in 2023 so far, and is facing a logistics crisis. [DailyInvestor]
- Cashless post office: The South African Post Office says that it will phase out cash withdrawals at its branches by March 2024, meaning social grant recipients will have to look elsewhere to cash out their monthly payments. Heightened risks with cash handling are driving the move – including cash in transit and other crimes – as well as capacity issues at SAPO itself. [ENCA]
- Markets: The South African rand weakened against the US dollar on Monday due to expectations of the US Federal Reserve delaying interest rate cuts next year. This comes ahead of a week of local and global economic data releases. On Tuesday (12 December), the rand was trading at R19.04 to the dollar, R23.94 to the pound and R20.51 to the euro. Oil is trading at $76.41 a barrel. [Reuters]
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