U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has discussed South Africa’s transition from its heavy reliance on coal to greener energy sources during talks with the country’s finance minister.
On Thursday, Yellen said South Africa’s energy sector would be one of the focuses of her talks with Godongwana., with scheduled rolling blackouts hitting businesses and households for up to 10 hours a day because of diesel shortages and breakdowns at the state-owned electricity provider’s aging coal-fired power plants.in Davos, Switzerland, because of the blackouts, which have led to stinging criticism of his government. The blackouts are expected to last for months.
Africa’s most developed economy relies on coal to generate about 80% of its electricity. It plans to reduce that to 59% by 2030 by phasing out some of its 15 coal power stations and increasing its use of renewable energy. Its target is zero carbon emissions by 2050.South Africa has received pledges of up to $8.5 billion from the United States and other Western nations to fund its energy transition away from coal-burning plants and recently agreed to some parts of the loan funding at the U.N.
“As you know, South Africa is the first country with a just energy transition partnership to which the United States was proud to commit as a partner,” Yellen said. “This partnership represents South Africa’s bold first step towards expanding electricity access and reliability and creating a low-carbon and climate-resistant economy.”in Africa, and trade between Africa and China surged to $254 billion in 2021, up about 35%.
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