Opportunity Issue 115

EDITOR'S NOTEDealing in

EDITOR'S NOTEDealing in wheelingTurkmenistan has a Ministry of Horses. Denmark has a Minister for Taxation. Thedesignation of ministries says a lot about a country’s priorities.Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s appointment as South Africa’s new Ministerof Electricity in March 2023 was a signal that electricity would be a major priorityfor the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa after years of unreliable power supply. In2024 Energy was added to the minister’s title but the priority remained getting electricityproduced and distributed. A great deal has happened on Minister Ramokgopa’s watch, notleast a strong sense that realities will be acknowledged as facts and action will follow.President Ramaphosa’s earlier announcement that private power generators would be freeto generate up to 100MW without a licence was the first indication that the electricitysector was truly to be shaken up. Since then, the vital step of creating separate companiesout of the old monopoly that was Eskom has begun. The National Transmission Companyof South Africa (NTCSA) started trading on 1 July 2024. For all the success of the RenewableEnergy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) – and it hasbeen hugely successful – transmission of power from areas that have the best wind andsolar resources is seriously constrained and South Africa has to “modernise and expandtransmission by about 14 000km”, in the words of Minister Ramokgopa. Governmentdoesn’t have the R440-billion needed for that and so the private sector has been invitedto get involved.Another major step in the liberalisation of the power sector has been the adoptionof wheeling as policy. Wheeling allows electricity to be transported along existingtransmission lines where the national utility is neither the seller nor the buyer. It is afinancial mechanism allowing third-party sources to generate and sell renewable energy toend-users such as data centres or mines.Wheeling is rapidly transforming South Africa’s energy market, not only in terms ofgeneration and use but also through the creation of a new category within the market,that of energy aggregators – companies who effectively act as middlemen betweenindependent power producers and consumers.In this issueThe introduction of private companies into the transmission space is noted by CwayitaKweyi, an analyst at Tamela, while the News & Snippets section carries a report on asuccessful funding round for Open Access Energy, a company that is using AI to enable itsdigital infrastructure for electricity trading.The first edition of the Opportunity Education Guide appears in these pages. Togetherwith profiles of educational institutions, the guide carries an overview of the tertiaryeducation sector and articles on coding and robotics and on the innovation beingencouraged by the Technology Station Programme at 11 higher education institutions.Other topics covered by articles and interviews include the possible impact onagriculture of South Africa’s exclusion from a future African Growth and Opportunity Act(AGOA) and the expansion by Yangtze Optics Africa Cable of its optical-fibre facility at theDube TradePort in KwaZulu-Natal.Greg Strydom, the Managing Director at Think Tank Solutions, explains how it’s possibleto do more with less when it comes to IT.An interview with Marc Wachsberger, CEO of The Capital Hotels, Apartments & Resorts,gives a good insight into tourism trends while NSDV Law’s Dominic Varrie and MandyHattingh unpack ways in which mining companies can meet sustainability goals whileminimising their carbon footprints.www.opportunityonline.co.zaEditor: John YoungPublishing director: Chris WhalesManaging director: Clive DuringOnline editor: Christoff ScholtzDesigner: Elmethra de BruynProduction: Ashley van SchalkwykAccount managers:Chris HoffmanShiko DialaVanessa WallaceVenesia FowlerGabriel VenterTennyson NaidooTahlia WyngaardGavin van der MerweGraeme FebruaryAdministration & accounts:Charlene SteynbergKathy WoottonSharon Angus-LeppanDistribution and circulation manager:Edward MacDonaldPrinting: FA PrintPUBLISHED BYGlobal Africa Network Media (Pty) LtdCompany Registration No:2004/004982/07Directors: Clive During, Chris WhalesPhysical address: 28 Main Road,Rondebosch 7700Postal address: PO Box 292,Newlands 7701Tel: +27 21 657 6200Email: info@gan.co.zaWebsite: www.gan.co.zaJohn Young, Editor8 | www.opportunityonline.co.zaNo portion of this book may be reproduced without written consent ofthe copyright owner. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those ofOpportunity, nor the publisher, none of whom accept liability of any naturearising out of, or in connection with, the contents of this book. The publisherswould like to express thanks to those who support this publication by theirsubmission of articles and with their advertising. All rights reserved.

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