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Germany to help SA overcome its energy crisis

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Germany has vowed to work with South Africa and help it overcome its energy crisis. The Germans will also provide vocational training to young people in the country. This came out during Chancellor Angela Merkel’s working visit to the country on Thursday.

In his response, President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasised the need to increase investment by over 600 German companies operating in the country.

Relations between South Africa and Germany date back many years ago. And strong economic ties bear testimony to this.

South Africa is Germany’s biggest trading partner in Africa. But not all is well for both countries.

Germany will have to overcome its own divisions while South Africa grapples with many challenges.

Currently, the country’s State-Owned Enterprises are in a crisis with its power utility Eskom failing to keep the lights on.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to help.

Merkel said, “One particular issue that is of concern to you is energy supply. We would like to support you particularly, as you extend the use of renewals but also using the renewables sustainably. We also talked about the possible replacement of old coal-fired power plants,  if talking about natural gas and climate and how we can deal with this issue.”

And this was good news for Ramaphosa , who recently criss-crossed the globe in search for foreign potential investors. And with the trade balance narrowing and opportunities in abundance, President Ramaphosa says Pretoria is looking forward to grabbing this opportunity with both hands.

“We had very extensive and informative discussions on energy and the Chancellor had shared the German experience, how they have been able to move away from coal-fired power stations and get into renewables and how they are looking forward to 2038 when coal will no longer be a contributor to their energy source. We are still 89% reliant on coal, but we have started the journey on renewables, so SA is on a journey of ensuring that we have energy sources that are mixed.”

Beyond their borders, not only will the two leaders serve as non- permanent members of the UN Security Council in 2020, they will also chair their respective continental bodies – the African Union and the European Union.

For his part, President Ramaphosa’s key role is to meet the AU self-imposed deadline of silencing the gun by the end of 2020 with Libya uppermost in his mind.

“The problem of Libya has to be resolved and as Africans, we would like to see African problems resolved by Africans and we are pleased that our partners are willing and prepared to listen to what Africans would like to say and want to hear what Africans would bring to the table.”

And Chancellor Merkel will have to deal with the challenges presented by Britain’s exit from the EU block.

Merkel says, “Yes, the UK has left the EU and what will follow now will be months of intensive discussions because the UK will have to tell us how they envisage the relationship with the EU whether, in the long run, this will turn into a free trade agreement.”

Again, President Ramaphosa and Chancellor Merkel are scheduled to co-chair the Africa-EU Summit later in 2020.

Meanwhile, President Ramaphosa and Merkel have just attended the official handover of five BMW i3 vehicles that will be used to support community-based care workers in their prevention of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) and victim support.

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