Blackouts have reduced the potential size of South Africa’s economy by almost a fifth since they started being imposed around 2008, according to an energy specialist at Africa’s biggest fund manager.
Outages can be expected every week this year and if the inadequate electricity generation situation isn’t addressed the prospects for economic growth will be dismal, Lungile Mashele, sector specialist for energy and infrastructure at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), told a conference in Johannesburg on Thursday.
State power utility Eskom has imposed rotational blackouts on more than 200 days in 2022 and almost every day this year because its old and poorly maintained plants can’t keep pace with demand.
The central bank has estimated that the energy crisis will shave 2 percentage points off growth this year.
Mashele, whose organisation manages R2.55 trillion, said outages are affecting everything from the timing of surgeries and the slaughtering of chickens to
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