News Flash
- South Africa’s energy crisis and rolling blackouts remains the biggest challenge to growing the economy.
- This is according to PwC’s latest South Africa Economic Outlook 2023 Report.
Economic growth was below potential in 2022 due to electricity load-shedding (blackouts) and will continue to underperform in 2023 due to the expected regular implementation of rolling blackouts says PwC. They add that on a positive note, behavioural change has seen the South African public adapt to and mitigate the impact of load-shedding. For example, in 2022, the country imported more than R5bn worth of solar panels, up from around R4bn in the preceding year. Admittedly, while this has made the economy more resilient to the energy challenges, it does not capture the economic pain experienced by, for example, small businesses, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and the majority of households who cannot afford off-grid alternatives.
Link to full report HERE
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
