News from Malawi
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will present the government’s six month performance report to the House of Peoples Representatives tomorrow.
The house will hear the report of the premier on its 11th regular meeting tomorrow.
The Prime Minister is expected to respond to questions raised from members of the parliament on various national issues.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency
Kazakhstan Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, Barlybay Sadykov said his country is desirous to deepen its cooperation with Ethiopia in various areas.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, Kazakhstan ambassador Barlybay Sadykov said trade, investment, science and technology as well as cultural cooperation are the areas where the two countries can work together.
In this regard, the ambassador said that the embassy will hold a number of events to develop bilateral trade with Ethiopia.
Ethiopia and Kazakhstan are currently enjoying excellent relations, stressing that the need to strengthen cooperation in various areas.
“Our relations, I would characterize as excellent and promising. We have common stance on many international and regional issues. We closely cooperate on international arena especially within the United Nations. And we have many promising areas where we can cooperate especially in the trade and economic sphere,” he said.
Recently we had consultations of representatives of the parliaments and Institute of Strategic Studies of the two countries, he added.
“We are planning to have trip for Ethiopian business people to Kazakhstan to participate at the international Astana Forum, which will take place on 8-9 of June in Astana. So, there are a lot of areas we can deepen and elevate our cooperation to a new level,” the ambassador said.
He added that the forum will discuss global issues among others, economy, trade and climate change.
He underscored that the two countries have all the possibilities to increase their areas of cooperation in various spheres.
The ambassador conveyed message to the Ethiopian business community to explore possibilities in Kazakhstan as there are greater opportunities for cooperation.
The Embassy of Kazakhstan in Ethiopia has been functioning since December 23, 2014.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency
Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, is expected to visit the Matimba and Medupi Power Stations in Limpopo today.
This is a continuation of the Minister’s visits to all of Eskom’s power stations which began last week. The visits are aimed at engaging management, workers and unions.
Power stations to be visited this week are Grootvlei Power Station on Tuesday, Hendrina and Arnot Power Stations on Thursday, Matla and Komati Power Stations on Friday and the Majuba Power Station on Saturday.
Speaking to the media during a visit to Koeberg Nuclear Power Station earlier, Ramokgopa said the coal powered fire stations need to up their performance during the winter season with Koeberg’s 920MW Unit One expected to delay in returning to service.
“Those underperforming power stations in Mpumalanga, Tutuka Power Station in particular, have to make significant improvements. We know that at Kusile [Power Station] we can’t make an improvement anytime earlier than in November of this year.
“So it means that the other [power stations] must meet the demands disproportionately because in winter, we know the demand is going to rise exponentially. We had hoped that Koeberg will be within the timeframe…so we are likely to miss the target of 23 July to get the additional 920MW. To put it into context, that’s one stage of load shedding so that was going to help us to bring it down.
“So we need to put greater emphasis on those 13 [coal fired] power stations to improve their energy availability factor [EAF],” he said.
The Minister said Tutuka and Kusile power stations in particular need to up their power generation significantly.
Tutuka has an energy availability factor of between 15% and 17% and Kusile has an EAF of some 19% due to the long term breakdown of three of its units.
“I did say, when we went to Tutuka that it is the worst performing and we can get an additional 2500 to 3000MW [from it]. So Tutuka must do everything possible to help us in this situation and the others will keep on adding.
“Kusile can’t…realistically, we can only get those units in terms of their planning [which is] the four of the five that are out by the 24th of December and then the remainder will come back on stream in February next year,” Ramokgopa said.
He emphasised that the department, together with all stakeholders, are doing much work to ensure that the electricity crisis is resolved as quickly as possible.
“So we are doing everything possible. Once we have visited all of these stations and we are confident of the numbers that the station managers are giving us we should be in a position to communicate where we are in relation to addressing this situation.
Load shedding
“But I want to give the South African public assurance that…I don’t see us moving to higher stages of load shedding. I foresee a position where we don’t need to go higher than Stage 6.
“I am confident, more than confident, in our ability to address load shedding – essentially the 6000MW that are missing to help us meet the demand,” he said.
The minister called on South Africans to play their part as government continues its implementation of the Energy Action Plan.
“One of the things I’d like to raise with the public is that it’s all in our hands. The focus has been on the generation side…as we attack the generation side, I think there are some issues on the demand side. A computation was done and it says we can save up to 4000MW, an optimistic case but on the low end down to 2000MW just by behavioural change.
“[That is] just by switching off geysers…it’s going to help us and in that way we are going to go to lower stages of load shedding. Let’s assume on the optimistic side…we are able to get 4000MW. That’s a power station the size of Medupi, so you are able to eliminate load shedding just on the demand side. We can contribute to the resolution of this challenge,” Ramokgopa said.
Source: South African Government News Agency
(ENA) Industry Park Development Corporation (IPDC) CEO, Aklilu Tadesse and Nigerian Ambassador, Victor Adekunle Adeleke to Ethiopia held today discussion on ways of finding IDP products in Nigerian markets.
During the discussion, IPDC CEO, Aklilu Tadesse stated that Nigeria is a country with great opportunity for Ethiopian industrial parks products finds wide market opportunities in Nigeria.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency
President Cyril Ramaphosa says expanding the social protection system is one of the critical tools government has implemented to ensure that some of the needs of the most underprivileged South Africans are addressed while also stimulating economic growth.
The President said this when he addressed the nation through his weekly newsletter.
He emphasised that contrary to what some may believe, expanding the social wage is “not simply an indication that more people need grants today than before”.
“The Social Relief of Distress Grant [SRD Grant] that was introduced in 2020 in response to the Coronavirus pandemic has reached more than 11 million people at its peak, and has lifted millions of people out of food poverty. According to research, approximately 50 percent of the purchases made by SRD grant recipients are groceries.
“Social grants also act as a stimulus for the economy as a whole, increase spending in townships and rural areas, and improve employment outcomes. An interview-based study by the University of Johannesburg of informal traders…found that the SRD Grant stimulated customer spending, provided capital to purchase stock, and enabled the new businesses to be initiated,” he said.
President Ramaphosa insisted that in a similar vein, the Presidential Employment Stimulus Initiative (PESI) has also provided a platform for participants to gain a foothold in the labour market.
“[Many] participants in the…PESI have gone on to find work after they have completed the programme. The school assistants programme has provided opportunities for 750 000 young people to date in over 22000 schools, reaching every corner of the country.
“Over 72 percent of participants in the PESI said that having gained their first work experience, the programme helped them to gain a foothold in the labour market thereafter. In all of these ways, South Africa’s world-renowned social protection system provides important benefits for many in our society, not only those who receive social grants,” he said.
The President said the social protection system also provides benefits to those who are not receiving grants.
“It supports economic growth from the bottom up, enables business activity, and strengthens social solidarity and stability. It is one of the greatest achievements of our democratic society, and one that we should all be proud of,” he said.
President Ramaphosa reaffirmed government’s commitment to addressing inequality through means that show real benefits.
“The SRD alone represents a significant step in our commitment to provide a minimum level of support below which no South African should fall. [We] are working on options to provide basic income support for the unemployed, within our fiscal constraints, beyond the expiry of the SRD Grant in April next year. [We] are working on options to provide basic income support for the unemployed, within our fiscal constraints, beyond the expiry of the SRD Grant in April next year.
“If the focus of our struggle for liberation was to end apartheid and achieve political freedom, the focus of our efforts now must be to address inequality and ensure that every South African enjoys the fruits of democracy,” the President said.
Honing in further on inequality, President Ramaphosa highlighted that government is making steady progress in addressing the challenge while also implementing reform.
“It is now well recognised that inequality constrains growth, and that growth which takes place in unequal societies tends to reproduce those patterns of inequality.
“This is why our economic policy is guided by the need on the one hand to implement structural reforms to stimulate growth and enhance our economic competitiveness, while on the other hand expanding social protection and public employment and supporting the social wage,” President Ramaphosa said.
Beyond the benefits and upsides of the social protection system, President Ramaphosa reminded the nation that social security is also a right protected by the highest law in the country – the Constitution.
“The right to social security is explicit in the Bill of Rights. This is an approach that recognises that social security is essential to other rights, including the right to dignity. It is this right that has underpinned the progressive expansion of South Africa’s social protection system over the past three decades.
“In 1999 just over 2.5 million people were receiving social grants. Today that number has increased to over 18 million people. In addition, more than two million indigent households also receive free basic water, basic electricity and solid waste removal services as part of this government’s commitment to free basic services for the poor,” President Ramaphosa said.
Source: South African Government News Agency
President Cyril Ramaphosa will tomorrow visit the Eastern Cape to assess the aftermath of the recent floods that have claimed lives and damaged private property and public infrastructure.
The President and his delegation will visit Port St Johns from 3pm where upon arrival they will go to the Port St Johns Youth Centre, which is housing residents who have lost homes in the floods.
They will then proceed to damaged roads in the Mthumbane area, close to Port St Johns’ Second Beach.
“President Ramaphosa will be accompanied by Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Thembi Nkadimeng and Eastern Cape Premier Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane to interact with residents and other stakeholders, and to assess current response and recovery efforts, and further actions or resources needed to help communities ravaged,” the Presidency said in a statement on Monday.
Over the past week, the OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province has been affected by torrential rainfall, which caused flooding resulting in loss of life, displacement of communities and damage to infrastructure.
The South African Weather Service had issued early warnings on 22 and 23 March affected communities in Port St Johns, Ingquza Hill, Nyandeni and King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipalities,
The floods disrupted critical infrastructure and services to water and electricity supply services, teaching and learning, as well as roads and bridges that collapsed.
“Government has activated a working Special Intergovernmental Committee on Disaster Management to provide support and relief to the affected communities.
“Teams comprising national, provincial and local spheres of government have been assessing the damage and providing emergency support in the form of shelter, food, blankets and other essentials,” the Presidency said.
Source: South African Government News Agency