The New Development Bank, which was founded by BRICS countries in 2015, has announced that it will finance projects that are aimed at addressing electricity transmission capacity in South Africa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa have both raised concerns about the challenges around the country’s transmission network.
New Development Bank to finance projects addressing electricity transmission capacity in SA:
“We are surpassing our expectation in relation to the performance of the units. We are more than confidant that we should be able to survive the winter,” says Ramokgopa. These sentiments were expressed by Ramokgopa, a few days ago. However, the issue of transmission is still a major problem.
“If you don’t address transmission side of the generation, we are likely to end in even a much worse case scenario than is the case now,” Ramokgopa added.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says this issue must be attended to.
“On the transmission issue, as I said, we need to come up with a number of innovative ways to improve transmission of the grid to improve. So, we are going to have to come up with innovative ideas. Some of them we’ll be partnering with private sector,” says Ramaphosa.
The New Development Bank Vice-President Leslie Maasdorp says the bank is ready to help South Africa.
The bank is expected to make a major announcement during the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg next month. It is also celebrating eight years since it was launched.
