"Blackouts may cost South Africa $51m daily, Central Bank says"

" Blackouts may cost South Africa $51m daily, Central Bank says \r\n\r\nSouth Africa\u2019s electricity crisis is costing the economy as much as 899 million rand ($51 million) per day, according to central bank estimates.\r\n\r\nRolling blackouts of about 6 to 12 hours a day, or so-called stage 3 and stage 6 outages, detract between 204 million rand and 899 million rand from the economy daily, the South African Reserve Bank said in an emailed response to questions on Monday. Power cuts, known locally as load shedding, are needed to protect the grid from collapse when state-owned company Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.\u2019s aging and poorly maintained and mostly coal-fed plants can\u2019t meet demand.\r\n\r\nThe company, which produces almost all of South Africa\u2019s electricity has imposed stage 6 cuts, the most severe yet, for 10 days so far this year, according to Bloomberg calculations.\r\n\r\nThe Reserve Bank lowered its economic growth forecast for this year to 0.3% from 1.1%, with Governor Lesetja Kganyago saying power disruptions will shave 2 percentage points off output growth. It predicts that electricity will be rationed for 250 days in 2023, which if realized will be a record.\r\n\r\nWhile outages have affected the country for about 15 years, Africa\u2019s most industrialized economy is now experiencing its worst bout of power rationing yet with cuts occurring for more than 200 days in 2022 and every day this year. Blackouts are likely to continue for at least two more years as Eskom overhauls its electricity-generating fleet.\r\n\r\nEskom has repeatedly said an additional 4,000 to 6,000 megawatts of electricity generating capacity are needed end the loadshedding.\r\n\r\nPresident Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce measures to address the crisis in his state of the nation address on Thursday. In January, the country\u2019s National Energy Crisis Committee was planning a new law to fast-track plant development. The body is run out of the president\u2019s office."

"Blackouts may cost South Africa $51m daily, Central Bank says"

Ghana leads West African peers in Travel and Tourism Development Index ranking, places 106th globallyAMP

Fmr Railways Minister Joe Ghartey appointed Board Chair of Ghana Revenue AuthorityAMP

Rich nations are earning billions from a pledge to help fix climateAMP