By NJ Ayuk
South Africa is, in many ways, one of the most modern countries in Africa, particularly with respect to electricity access. Yet while its numbers compare favourably with most other African nations (as of 2021, 89.3% of the population had reliable access to electricity, making it the fifth-highest ranking on the continent according to the World Bank), it shares some of the same core problems as the others: an unreliable energy supply facing a rapidly growing population, an expanding economy and increasing urbanisation.
With climate change looming large over any debate about energy, the pressure is on from more economically developed nations for Africa to bypass older energy technologies and jump straight to renewables. As wonderful as that may sound in theory, the key to supplying a growing nation is stability, and the key to stability is diversity. For South Africa, whose power generation structure is dominated by coal, that means including natural gas, which Africa has in almost as much abundance as sun and wind, to help steady the supply of energy while renewable technology continues to mature.
Diversifying the energy supply is not as simple as opening the door and putting out the welcome mat, however. For energy suppliers to thrive in a new market, they need to see stability as well stability of policy and infrastructure. Companies dont like doing business where the rules are Byzantine, and their physical needs are difficult or impossible to supply. To support the expansion of its natural gas infrastructure and ensure a more prosperous future, there are several policy initiatives South Africa should embrace.
Physical Needs
