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Eskom is progressing well with the maintenance of its power generating plant whilst supplying the country’s electricity needs.

With the theme for the 2016 Africa Day and Africa Month being 'Building a better Africa and a Better World', our role as an energy provider is to contribute towards achieving the overall continental goal of providing universal access for all Africans who do not have electricity.

Electrification is that catalyst that can increase GDP growth, create jobs, and reduce poverty.  Africa is a continent blessed with an abundance of energy resources that are key to unlocking economic growth and social upliftment across the continent. There is an African proverb that says if you want to travel fast you must go alone, but if you want to travel far, we must go together.

Closer to home, Eskom, together with the government, is pursuing progress and has increased the proportion of households with access to electricity from 44% to 85% over the past 20 years – no mean feat because, each day, our work is about enabling more South Africans to have access to electricity, so that they can achieve a level of progress in their lives and in their lifetimes that previous generations of South Africans could only have dreamt of.

To achieve universal access to electricity for all her citizens, South Africa will need to invest more in power generation infrastructure. To ensure that universal access is achieved by 2025/26, the Department of Energy has developed the first draft of the electrification master plan to ensure better co-operation between the different implementing entities, as well as different technologies, grid and non-grid rollout in un-serviced areas.

Furthermore, for continental collaboration and mutual support, effective electricity transmission is key. For this to happen, it is imperative that we have strong and reliable cross border inter connectors to join different countries and allow electricity trade from excess generation hubs to industrial load centres, to be then used in those countries that display a demand. As we build new electricity generation plants, we must evacuate that excess power from the power station, and offer it elsewhere. If this is not the case then the purpose of powering economic growth is defeated.

Organisations such as the Southern Africa Power Pool, West Africa Power Pool, East Africa Power Pool and Central Africa Power Pool are entities that we need to support since they are charged with the mandate of driving electricity power flows between neighbouring countries. This will assist in promoting cross-border electricity trade between countries. As different African utilities, we must participate and support their efforts to unite us into one Super Grid Energy Forum that becomes the envy of the world. There is absolute power in working together, and the wisdom of another African proverb that talks about crossing the river in a crowd, and the crocodile won’t eat you. To this end, Eskom is a member of the Southern Africa Power Pool.

African energy must incorporate ways of further cooperation in the region in order to attract a larger percentage of the global energy investment and enable multiple countries to benefit from it.
 
We must unite to work together towards the growth of the continent.

We must stand united to find an African solution to our problems.  We have the potential to be a great force for the good of our people.

We will continue to provide regular updates on the state of the power system through various media platforms.

Issued by Eskom