The mining industry in South Africa is the fifth largest in the world, and today it accounts for more than 5% of the nation’s GDP. Moreover, the sector remains one of the country’s most important sources of employment, providing 16.2% – or nearly 1.4m – of the total formal non-agricultural jobs. The labour unrest that was seen in 2012 highlighted some of the challenges faced by the sector as it...
South Africa Energy
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With a long-established track record as the continent’s largest financial platform and one of the world’s biggest mining producers, South Africa has significant economic clout in the region.
In a bid to reduce the negative environmental externalities associated with heavy coal-fired electricity generation, South Africa is stepping up efforts to increase the role renewable energy plays in its increasingly overstretched electricity sector, pushing ahead with a series of programmes aimed at harnessing the nation’s vast alternative resources.
Highly dependent on coal for its current electricity supply, and facing rising demand and supply gaps stemming from years of underinvestment in capacity expansion, South Africa is embarking on a plan to increase the contribution of gas, nuclear and renewables towards its national energy mix.
Articles & Analysis | Under pressure: Exploring the Karoo Basin’s shale gas reserves has created controversy from The Report: South Africa 2012
Since 2009, murmurs about shale gas potential in the Karoo Basin have become a cacophony of controversy. On the one hand, international and domestic hydrocarbons firms are calling for significant exploration efforts to establish whether the expected deposits are commercially viable, suggesting that any major discoveries could be game-changers for...
