Category: Africa

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South Africa and Eswatini sign revised Komati River Basin treaty

Source: Government of South Africa

South Africa and Eswatini sign revised Komati River Basin treaty

Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina and Eswatini Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Prince Lonkhokhela Dlamini, have signed a revised treaty on the Development and Utilisation of the Water Resources of the Komati River Basin.

The amended treaty, signed at Maguga Dam in Eswatini on Friday, 13 March 2026, supports future water development, while safeguarding long-term water security for communities in Mpumalanga relying on the Driekoppies Dam and Maguga Dam, and reinforces strong transboundary cooperation between South Africa and Eswatini.

The agreement was concluded during a meeting hosted by Prince Dlamini, who invited Majodina to the Kingdom of Eswatini to discuss cooperation on shared water resources and to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries.

The Ministers emphasised the need to strengthen cooperation and the existing bilateral relations through the Joint Water Commission (JWC) Agreement signed in 1992. The Commission acts as a technical advisory body to both governments on all technical matters relating to the development and utilisation of shared water resources.

The Kingdom of Eswatini and the Republic of South Africa also signed the Treaty on the Development and Utilisation of water resources of the Komati Basin in 1992, which led to the establishment of the Komati Basin Water Authority (KOBWA) in 1993. The bi-national authority was mandated to raise financing through loans, design and oversee the construction of the Maguga and Driekoppies dams, and to manage their operation and maintenance.

The Treaty stipulated the equitable water allocations between two countries and set out a formula for sharing the costs of construction of the two dams as well as operation and maintenance of the dams and the system post construction phase.

However, the agreement had not been reviewed in the 33 years since its signing. With the introduction of many legislative changes in the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Republic of South Africa, environment in which KOBWA operates and commitments to international principles governing transboundary water cooperation between member states amongst others, necessitated a review of the treaty.

The revision aims to broaden KOBWA’s mandate so that it can support the two governments’ efforts to improve water services for their citizens and explore sustainable revenue streams to support its operational expenses.

The review process included public consultations in both countries, and all relevant processes for concluding international agreements were observed from both countries.

During the meeting, the Ministers stressed the importance of complying with minimum cross-border water flow requirements at the Ressano Garcia gauging station in line with the Incomati–Maputo Watercourse Agreement. They also encouraged KOBWA and the Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Management Agency (IUCMA) to work together towards ensuring the 2.6 m3/s (cubic metres) is achieved as prescribed in the Incomati-Maputo agreement.

“The Ministers further committed their support to the Incomati-Maputo Water Commission (INMACOM) as the new institution established to promote cooperation between the three Parties (The Kingdom of Eswatini, The Republic of Mozambique and The Republic of South Africa) to ensure the development, protection and sustainable utilisation of water resources shared by the Member States,” the Ministers said in a Joint statement.

The meeting reaffirmed the continued strong cooperation between the two governments, especially in the management of transboundary water resources.

It was agreed that the Joint Water Commission would continue to meet at least once a year, while the Ministers would hold regular engagements to share updates and discuss progress on the work of the Commission. – SAnews.gov.za

GabiK

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President Ramaphosa calls for turning point in SA’s transport sector

Source: Government of South Africa

President Ramaphosa calls for turning point in SA’s transport sector

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the inaugural National Transport Conference should mark a turning point for South Africa’s transport sector, calling for stronger collaboration between government, business and labour to drive reforms and improve the country’s logistics system.

Addressing delegates at the conference held at Gallagher Convention Centre on Monday, President Ramaphosa said building an effective transport system requires partnerships across sectors.

“To build the partnership that this vision requires, we should consider establishing a permanent Transport Council,” the President said.

The President said the proposed council would bring together government, the private sector and passenger and logistics service providers across land, air and sea transport to strengthen cooperation and support reforms in the sector. 

He stressed that an efficient transport and logistics system is essential for economic growth and improving the lives of South Africans.

“Transport is vital to our economy and our people. When our transport arteries are blocked or inefficient, growth stalls, costs rise and opportunity diminishes. When they flow freely, the country thrives,” he said.

The President noted that logistics inefficiencies are estimated to cost the country’s economy close to R1 billion a day, highlighting the urgency of reforms to improve the movement of goods and people.

He said government has placed logistics reform at the centre of its economic recovery strategy through the Medium-Term Development Plan. 

Key interventions include the implementation of the National Rail Policy of 2022 and the National Freight Logistics Roadmap of 2023, which aim to restore rail as the backbone of South Africa’s freight logistics system.

Through the establishment of the Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager, government has started opening the rail network to private operators.

Train slots covering 24 million tonnes of freight a year have already been conditionally allocated to 11 train operating companies, with the first private operator expected to begin operations in April 2027. 

President Ramaphosa said government has also set an ambitious target of moving 250 million tonnes of freight by rail by 2029, compared with 160 million tonnes transported in the past financial year. 

The President said improvements are already emerging through the work of the National Logistics Crisis Committee, which has been coordinating efforts to address challenges in the freight system and improve operations on key corridors.

President Ramaphosa emphasised that a modern and efficient transport system would lower the cost of doing business, attract investment and create jobs.

“It will strengthen regional integration and make our economy more competitive,” he said.

He added that the conference presents an opportunity for stakeholders to place transport at the centre of the country’s growth path and help shape a more inclusive and resilient transport system. – SAnews.gov.za

DikelediM

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Government maintaining contact with oil industry players

Source: Government of South Africa

Government maintaining contact with oil industry players

Government is continually engaging with stakeholders in the petroleum sector on fuel supply stability and security of fuel supply, as global disruptions continue.

This according to Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, who delivered a keynote address at the 5th Southern Africa Oil and Gas Conference, which kicked off in Cape Town. 

Conflict in the Middle East has caused disruptions to supply and a steep increase in fuel prices.

“To maintain product availability in our country, as communicated last week, the department remains in constant engagement with industry players to explore all possible supply sources.

“These engagements are aimed at ensuring uninterrupted fuel availability in the domestic market, without immediately utilising the country’s strategic reserves,” he said.

The Minister noted that disruptions are particularly impactful on countries that are reliant on oil imports.

“While questions remain about potential fuel supply disruptions, the reality is that substantial fuel price increases are increasingly unavoidable. Countries that rely heavily on imports of refined petroleum products remain particularly vulnerable to global market shocks.

“[The] sustainable long-term solution to our challenges lies in domestic production. This can only be achieved through the rigorous exploration and responsible exploitation of our own petroleum resources,” Mantashe stated.

South Africa’s potential oil production has been met with legal challenges from environmental groups.

“It is now well established that South Africa is endowed with significant offshore petroleum potential, including major gas discoveries in the Outeniqua Basin.

“The Orange Basin has also emerged as a world-class frontier, following significant oil discoveries in Namibia, which geological evidence suggests may extend southwards into South African waters.

“Regrettably, we have not yet been able to fully explore and exploit this potential due to ongoing blockages against oil and gas development in the name of environmental protection,” the minister said.

Mantashe stated that exploration is in line with the Constitution which states that “we must secure ecologically sustainable development and the use of natural resources while promoting justifiable economic and social development”.

“The truth is that rising oil and gas prices have a direct ripple effect on the cost of living. The lack of access to these resources has an even greater impact, as it can lead to energy poverty, rising unemployment, and the further entrenchment of poverty and inequality.

“South Africa, and indeed the African continent at large, cannot afford to remain poor while endowed with abundant natural resources. We must harness these resources responsibly to drive inclusive economic grow, create employment opportunities, and eradicate poverty,” he said.

Implementing reforms

Mantashe emphasised that the “importance of responsible oil and gas development in meeting our socioeconomic needs cannot be overstated”, arguing that the development would significantly enhance South Africa’s “industrialisation efforts and contribute to GDP growth”.

“It is against this backdrop that our government continues to reform its legislative framework to promote and advance the petroleum sector so that it can make a meaningful contribution to South Africa’s economy.

“The enactment of the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Act [UPRDA] represents a critical intervention in this regard. The Act has not only separated petroleum from mining legislation, but also establishes an enabling regulatory framework aimed at accelerating exploration and production of the nation’s petroleum resources,” he explained.

Extensive submissions from industry role players have been taken into account with an eye on publishing the regulations for implementation by the end of March.

“We are also advancing the modernisation of the Petroleum Products Act. Following public consultations on the draft Petroleum Products Bill [PPB], the bill is currently undergoing certification processes ahead of submission to Cabinet for approval, and thereafter to Parliament.

“These reforms are aimed at ensuring equitable access to, and sustainable development of the nation’s petroleum resources while, in the long term, reducing the country’s reliance on imports of finished products to meet domestic demand,” Mantashe said.

Furthermore, an engagement with the ministers of Environmental Affairs and Water and Sanitation has been held to finalise and gazette regulations for shale gas development.

“As per our previous commitment, the Department stands ready to lift the moratorium [on shale gas development] immediately after these regulations are promulgated.

“This commitment represents an important step towards promoting fairness and regulatory certainty in the development of our oil and gas sector and ensures that these matters do not remain indefinitely suspended in lengthy litigation processes that create investor uncertainty,” he said.

The minister assured that government is committed to ensuring that the country’s petroleum potential is developed responsibly.

“[We] remain firmly committed to ensuring that South Africa’s petroleum resources are developed in an orderly, responsible, and environmentally sustainable manner, while at the same time advancing meaningful social and economic development for our people.

“South Africa must not stand on the sidelines while the global energy landscape evolves and while our neighbouring countries unlock the value of their resources.

“We must act decisively, responsibly, and in the national interest to unlock the full potential of our petroleum sector,” Mantashe concluded. – SAnews.gov.za

NeoB

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Caribbean Shallow-Water Plays Move into Focus as Guyana–Suriname Basin Expands

Source: APO


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While deepwater discoveries have dominated the Caribbean’s upstream narrative, shallow-water blocks across Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago are emerging as a parallel opportunity as operators seek lower-cost exploration prospects in the expanding Guyana–Suriname Basin. Governments across the region are advancing licensing frameworks, seismic programs and drilling campaigns aimed at unlocking offshore resources closer to shore, while improved geological data and drilling technology are strengthening the commercial case for shallow-water development.

These opportunities will be in focus during a dedicated technical workshop – “Operational Challenges in Shallow Water Drilling” – at Caribbean Energy Week (CEW) 2026. The session will focus on mitigating operational risk while leveraging new technologies to optimize cost and performance across the region’s mature and emerging basins.

Guyana Expands Beyond Deepwater Core

Guyana’s global oil story has been dominated by the deepwater Stabroek Block, but policymakers are increasingly focused on expanding exploration into adjacent shallow-water acreage. Following its offshore licensing round, the government finalized agreements for multiple shallow-water blocks under a standardized production sharing framework designed to attract a broader range of operators.

One example is the S7 block, awarded to Cybele Energy, covering approximately 200 square-kilometers offshore. The fiscal terms – 10% royalty, a 10% corporate tax and a cost-recovery cap – aim to balance investor incentives with higher state revenue, while lowering barriers to entry for mid-size explorers.

Geological studies across Guyana’s shallow-water acreage have identified roughly 90 exploration leads across 11 blocks, containing an estimated 90 billion barrels of oil in place, suggesting the petroleum system extends well beyond the basin’s deepwater fairway.

For investors, the appeal is straightforward: shallower wells typically require smaller capital commitments and shorter development timelines, offering an entry point into one of the world’s most prolific emerging hydrocarbon provinces.

Suriname’s Offshore Momentum Builds

Just across the maritime border, Suriname is experiencing similar momentum. In late 2025, Chevron and Petronas secured exploration rights for shallow offshore Blocks 9 and 10 alongside QatarEnergy and the state-backed Paradise Oil Company, marking one of the largest recent commitments to Suriname’s upstream sector.

Meanwhile, Chevron recently drilled the Korikori-1 exploration well in Block 5 in water depths of roughly 40 meters – demonstrating continued confidence in the shallow-water potential of the basin. These exploration activities complement major deepwater developments such as the $10.5 billion GranMorgu project led by TotalEnergies, which is moving toward production later this decade and strengthening the broader investment case for the basin.

The result is a layered offshore ecosystem where deepwater megaprojects anchor regional infrastructure, while shallow-water exploration expands the opportunity set for new entrants.

Trinidad’s Mature Basins Offer Redevelopment Potential

Trinidad & Tobago provides a different but equally important opportunity: redevelopment of mature shallow-water basins. Decades of production have left the country with a significant network of offshore infrastructure, pipelines and service capacity. For operators, this existing ecosystem creates opportunities for smaller discoveries that can be tied back quickly and economically. In a market increasingly focused on capital discipline, such infrastructure-led developments are gaining renewed attention as companies seek projects that balance resource potential with manageable costs.

Despite their advantages, shallow-water projects come with technical and operational challenges. Complex geology, environmental sensitivities and aging infrastructure can complicate drilling campaigns. Addressing these issues will be a key focus of the workshop at CEW 2026, where operators, engineers and service providers will examine strategies to improve well design, reduce drilling risk and deploy new technologies in the region’s offshore environment.

As the Guyana–Suriname Basin continues to mature and regional governments seek to diversify their upstream portfolios, shallow-water exploration may represent the Caribbean’s next wave of opportunity.

Join us in shaping the future of Caribbean energy. To participate in this landmark event, please contact sales@energycapitalpower.com.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.

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Copia Group’s Platinum Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) 2026 Sponsorship Highlights Commitment to Angola’s Oilfield Growth

Source: APO


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Angolan service provider Copia Group of Companies has joined the 2026 edition of the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) Conference and Exhibition as a Platinum Sponsor. The company’s participation at the event  – Angola’s premier oil and gas forum – signals a broader commitment to developing the national hydrocarbon value chain as leading operators scale production. By joining AOG 2026, Copia Group strengthens its visibility within Angola’s evolving energy ecosystem while supporting exploration, development and infrastructure growth across the sector.

As Angola intensifies efforts to sustain crude production above one million barrels per day while accelerating new exploration campaigns and redevelopment programs, demand for high-quality infrastructure, fabrication, logistics and technical services is expanding. From deepwater developments and shallow water revitalization projects to non-associated gas monetization and refining enhancements, the country’s hydrocarbon value chain is entering a capital-intensive phase requiring experienced local and regional service providers capable of delivering at scale.

Within this context, Copia Group has positioned itself as a multidisciplinary provider supporting oil, gas and industrial operations. With capabilities spanning engineering services, construction support, project management and technical solutions, the company facilitates collaboration between operators, contractors and project stakeholders. Its Platinum Sponsorship at AOG 2026 reinforces this positioning at a time when Angola’s project pipeline is expanding across upstream and downstream segments.

In a 2025 interview with Energy Capital & Power, Adilson Mangueira Nelumba, Copia Group’s Chairman, and Grildo José Francisco, the company’s Project Director for Oil, Gas & Biofuels, highlighted that the company has “established itself as a strategic partner in Angola’s energy transformation, thanks to a solid combination of international partnerships, multidisciplinary technical expertise and a commitment to sustainable and local development.”

Beyond oil and gas services, Copia Group is playing a central role in expanding Angola’s hydropower portfolio. The company is leading the consortium developing the Caculo Cabaça Hydroelectric Project, set to produce 2,172 MW once completed. The first turbine is scheduled to operate in October 2026, with subsequent phases coming online through the end of 2028. As the project nears operation, Copia Group’s participation at AOG 2026 is expected to open new avenues for international collaboration, supporting accelerated project development.

Copia’s Platinum-level involvement underscores the importance of strong service sector collaboration in achieving Angola’s production and infrastructure targets. As the country aligns upstream expansion with downstream and midstream development, companies delivering engineering and construction solutions will remain critical to translating policy ambition into operational reality.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.

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Climate finance has failed Africa twice over – how to fix it

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Lisa Sachs, Director, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Columbia University

The effects of climate change are no longer a future risk for Africa. They are a present crisis.

Floods are destroying infrastructure that took decades to build. Droughts are collapsing harvests and displacing communities. Extreme heat is eroding labour productivity and straining health systems. Coastal communities are losing ground to rising seas and storm surges.

The case for massive investment in adaptation and resilience is overwhelming. In the infrastructure, agriculture, water systems, and coastal protections that help communities survive a climate that has already changed. But adaptation only buys limited time. Only deep, rapid cuts to the greenhouse gas emissions warming the planet can prevent those impacts from escalating beyond the reach of any response.

The global response to this dual challenge has been woefully inadequate, with particularly devastating consequences for the countries that contributed least to global warming yet are most profoundly affected.

First, despite continued pledges to increase adaptation finance, the financing gap remains massive. Africa is receiving less than US$14 billion per year in adaptation finance against an estimated need of more than US$100 billion. And more than half of what does flow arrives as interest bearing loans.

Second, the growing attention to adaptation has crowded out the increasingly urgent imperative of deep decarbonisation. Investing in decarbonisation has become more, not less, urgent as global warming reaches the 1.5°C threshold, with emissions still rising. Deep decarbonisation is the only way to stop climate-related risks from rising to unmanageable levels.

Resilience becomes increasingly ineffective as emissions and temperatures continue to rise. We cannot adapt to many extreme events, or their impacts on food systems, livelihoods and health. Tipping points are irreversible.

Third and most profoundly, the global financial architecture is failing Africa on multiple levels simultaneously, with cascading impacts for both mitigation and adaptation. Investing in decarbonised energy and transport systems and in building resilience to the increased impacts of climate change requires access to long-term affordable capital.

Yet Africa remains trapped in a cycle of perceived risk and access only to limited and expensive financing. This has made it prohibitively difficult to finance critical investments, exacerbating African countries’ vulnerability, increasing perceived risk, and raising the cost of capital. Debt sustainability frameworks, credit rating systems, multilateral lending practices, and global market rules and conventions reinforce each other. They constrain access to capital that is needed for critical climate-related investments, channelling capital away from the places and sectors that need it most.

Understanding how those failures interact is essential to fixing them.

For two decades at Columbia University, as my colleagues and I have worked with governments and partners around the world, we have seen these failures play out directly. In the investment decisions that don’t get made and the infrastructure that doesn’t get built. We have watched risks mount, even as the pathways to decarbonisation were known. Already, we are seeing mounting risks and liabilities. There are increased liabilities, more profound trade-offs, and accumulated borrowing from future generations to cover losses today.

The single most important imperative is to lower the cost of capital for African borrowers, both sovereign and non-sovereign, to invest in modern, decarbonised infrastructure and in resilience at scale, for the benefit of the region and the world.

Fundamentally, this means reformed debt sustainability frameworks, liquidity mechanisms, risk assessments and credit ratings. Sovereigns, project developers and investors should also align around coherent, rigorous least-cost energy system modelling, so that investment pipelines are integrated with economy-wide planning.

Then strategic risk-allocation mechanisms at every level of the system, complementing fundamental reforms at the global level, will allow private capital to flow to hundreds of viable projects across the continent.

Failures on the mitigation front

Only mitigation – the deep decarbonisation of the world’s energy, transport, land and industrial systems – reduces the drivers of climate change. All other financing – for resilience, insurance and disaster recovery – manages the consequences of unmitigated climate risk. It does not reduce the underlying hazard.

That we are failing to decarbonise the world’s economy rapidly and at scale is inexcusable. We have the technology, capital and known pathways to achieve rapid deep decarbonisation. Tremendous technological gains mean that the economics increasingly support low-carbon solutions across the built environment, mobility and energy systems.

Energy consumers that have been passive offtakers can now act as storage on grids, stabilising energy demand, lowering system costs, creating new revenue streams, and lowering costs for downstream consumers. Distributed energy systems allow distinct locales to pool and share their energy, so that system disruptions have more limited impacts. Energy generated from the wind and sun are not subject to political capture or fossil fuel price volatility, the only means of truly securing energy security and economic sovereignty.

The current frameworks and institutions for global decarbonisation were built for a different era. Net-zero plans and mitigation targets obscure the way in which energy systems have transformed, expanding opportunities and enabling emissions reductions through systems optimisation.

Rather than insisting on net zero plans and mitigation commitments, we need:

  • rigorous technical analyses to identify least-cost pathways to decarbonised, optimised energy systems, considering how integration across sectors and regions unlocks efficiencies and reduces cost

  • coordination among diverse actors to support technological diffusion across interconnected systems

  • risk-sharing mechanisms to manage the financing risks that deter private capital at the early stages of transition.

The world is also failing Africa in particular. Africa holds 60% of the world’s best solar resources.

Some 600 million people on the continent still lack access to electricity. Modern infrastructure, properly planned and coordinated, represents an extraordinary development opportunity; energy system investments will power industrial growth, digital connectivity, health and education.

Yet Africa receives just 2% of global clean energy investment, a tiny fraction of the financing needed to build clean energy and mobility systems at scale.

This mismatch reflects the profound bias of the international financial system.

A broken international financial system

The cost of borrowing determines whether an energy system is financeable, and especially whether it is more competitive than fossil-based energy. In Africa’s power sector, the average cost of borrowing to build clean energy infrastructure is 15%-18% on average, compared to 2%-5% in Europe and the United States. At these high costs of capital, clean energy infrastructure is simply not financeable.

Those borrowing costs do not reflect genuine investment risk. They reflect a compounding set of structural constraints and misperceived risks.

GDP per capita is de facto the most decisive determinant of a country’s creditworthiness. A low-income country has virtually no path to investment-grade status regardless of its growth trajectory, governance quality, or returns on public investment.

As of late 2025, only three of 34 rated African countries held investment-grade status. Not a single low-income country held that status.

The IMF-World Bank Debt Sustainability Framework compounds the damage. Based on their institutional methodologies, the IMF and World Bank discourage the long-term public borrowing that African governments need to invest in infrastructure, human capital and climate resilience.

Recent European Central Bank research shows how these failures add up. Climate disasters directly raise sovereign borrowing costs. The ECB analysis shows that the effect is largest and most persistent in developing countries.

A major storm can push bond yields up by more than 140 basis points in an emerging economy, versus roughly 66 in a typical advanced economy. This means the cost of borrowing rises sharply at precisely the moment a country most needs resources to recover and rebuild. Financial breathing room shrinks precisely when climate impacts demand the greatest response.

The ECB analysis further shows that countries with slow energy transitions face a growing transition risk premium. The slower one transitions, the more costly it is to borrow. But the trickle of financing for clean energy in Africa is itself the result of high borrowing costs. So African countries are penalised for facing high borrowing costs for not having adequate public resources to build resilience to the climate impacts they did not cause.

Diagnose and target risk

The structural determinants of this problem are well understood. African governments must be able to access affordable, long-term capital to build clean energy and mobility systems, to invest in resilient cities, agriculture and coastlines, and to develop the institutions, health systems and education on which everything else depends.

That requires credit rating methodologies that stop treating poverty as a self-fulfilling proxy for default risk. And a debt sustainability framework that stops discouraging the public investment African economies need to grow. African countries that can make these critical investments at scale will grow far faster than the world’s wealthy economies. The international financial architecture must reflect that – urgently, before adaptation becomes an increasingly inadequate response to risks we had every opportunity to contain.

– Climate finance has failed Africa twice over – how to fix it
– https://theconversation.com/climate-finance-has-failed-africa-twice-over-how-to-fix-it-278117

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Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the inaugural National Transport Conference, Gallagher Estate, Johannesburg

Source: President of South Africa –

Minister of Transport, Ms Barbara Creecy, 
Deputy Ministers from SADC
Premier of Gauteng, Mr Panyaza Lesufi,
Ministers from SADC,
Leaders of business and labour,
Distinguished Guests,
Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen, 

It is my honour to address this inaugural National Transport Conference. 

Transport is vital to our economy and our people. 

When are transport arteries are blocked or inefficient, growth stalls, costs rise and opportunity diminishes. When they flow freely, the country thrives. 

An effective transport and logistics system is not merely about moving goods and people. It is about unlocking opportunity, restoring competitiveness, reducing inequality and enabling inclusive growth. 

The transport sector is integral to our effort to make economic growth work for everyone.

It is essential for getting goods from our factories and minerals from our mines to markets here and abroad.

By the same measure, it is vital for the development of our rural areas, enabling farmers to get their produce to market and communities to access services.

In a country where the majority of its people was deliberately removed and settled far from economic opportunities, an effective, affordable and safe transport system is essential to narrow those distances.

To take people to opportunity, and to take opportunity to people.

This conference is taking place amid significant changes.

The geopolitical environment is shifting rapidly. Old trade routes are being redrawn and supply chains reconfigured. 

Other countries on our continent are investing aggressively in their own rail and port infrastructure, creating both competition and opportunity. 

It creates competition for our rail and port operations, but it also opens up great opportunities for trade, investment and cooperation throughout our region and across the content.

The defining challenge of our time – climate change – is reshaping both infrastructure and operations. 

In recent years, we have seen the damage that extreme weather events – such as floods – causes to rail, road and port infrastructure.

We have seen how it can disrupt the flow of goods and commuter travel.

We need infrastructure that is resilient and sustainable. Our operational capabilities need to be agile and adaptable.

Through the Medium Term Development Plan, Government has placed logistics reform at the heart of our economic recovery strategy. 

A critical imbalance exists in our freight network: approximately 69 percent of all freight moves by road. 

This places immense strain on our road network and contributes to poor road safety. 

Inefficiencies in logistics are estimated to cost our economy close to R1 billion a day. 

That is a cost we should not – and need not – bear. 

The cornerstone of our reform programme is the National Rail Policy of 2022, complemented by the National Freight Logistics Roadmap of 2023. 

Together, these policies seek to re-establish rail as the backbone of our logistics network.

They seek to bring in new investment from private operators while keeping strategic infrastructure – our rail lines and ports – in public ownership, as assets that belong to all the people of South Africa. 

Through the establishment of the Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager, open access to the rail network has become a reality. 

To date, train slots covering 24 million tonnes a year have been conditionally awarded to 11 train operating companies. We expect the first private operator to commence operations in April 2027. 

We have set an ambitious target of moving 250 million tonnes of freight by rail by 2029. 

In the past financial year, 160 million tonnes of freight were moved by rail, an increase of 5.5 percent on the previous year.

Transnet’s revenue in 2024-2025 rose to R82 billion, which is nearly 8 percent higher than the year before. 

To decrease backlogs and increase port volumes, Transnet has embarked on an extensive upgrading and maintenance programme. 

Building on the experience of our response to the energy crisis, the National Logistics Crisis Committee has brought together a range of government departments and agencies and mobilised expert support to drive the recovery of our logistics capabilities.

Through this work we have seen breakthrough projects on the coal and iron ore corridors to improve operational performance, improved communication between Transnet and its customers, and a significant reduction in security incidents on the rail network.

These are early signs of recovery. They tell us that the interventions are working. 

Passenger rail is also essential for inclusive growth. 

An effective passenger rail system connects communities and provides dignity to working-class South Africans. 

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa – PRASA – has revived 37 of 40 priority passenger rail corridors and introduced more than 300 locally-manufactured train sets. 

We are targeting 116 million passenger journeys this financial year, on our way to 600 million trips by 2029. 

Reliable passenger rail lowers commuting costs and improves access to work, education and healthcare. 

We have launched a new Request for Information to attract private investment in rapid regional rail, rolling stock and depot modernisation. 

Road transport remains indispensable. 

The trucking industry will continue to play a vital role in our logistics supply chains. 

The taxi industry, which carries of 80 percent of South Africans who use public transport, is one of the largest black-owned sectors in the economy. 

The economics of the industry has an impact on the sustainability of public transport, driver behaviour and road safety. 

We are working with taxi associations and financial institutions to de-risk the industry and provide accessible finance to taxi owners and drivers.

Transport must be as inclusive as possible. No one must be left behind.

The Department of Transport issued the Action Plan for Universally Accessible Transport in November 2024, outlining the measures we must take to ensure better transport services for persons with disabilities. 

Our rapid transit bus services are designed with accessibility in mind. The new PRASA trains have dedicated areas in their carriages for those who are wheelchair-bound.

Through the South African National Roads Agency – SANRAL – government manages over 31,000 kilometres of national roads, carrying 70 percent of long-distance freight. 

Major projects – from the Moloto Road upgrade to the Msikaba and Mtentu bridges in the Eastern Cape – have improved safety and connectivity while creating over 35,000 job opportunities and supporting more than 2,000 SMMEs. 

Our roads, which are arteries of growth and development, are far too often places of destruction, injury and death.

More than 12,000 people die on our roads each year. 

Through strategic interventions and deployment of the National Traffic Police on prioritised national routes, we have begun to see a decrease in our number of road accident deaths.

During the latest festive season, the country recorded the fewest number of crashes in five years. 

We aim to at least halve road deaths by 2030. 

As a trading nation, over 90 percent of our trade by volume moves by sea. 

The current conflict in the Middle East has placed a spotlight on our ports and their strategic value. 

When major shipping routes are disrupted, South Africa has an opportunity to position itself as an alternative hub. 

Our ports must be geared to handle any eventuality at short notice and to respond to a geopolitical environment that is becoming more unpredictable. 

Coastal shipping will be critical to advancing the African Continental Free Trade Area and promote regional integration. 

So too will air transport. 

The AU’s Single African Air Transport Market envisions a deregulated and liberalised airspace that allows for improved connectivity between African states. 

A flight that should take four hours should not take eighteen. 

Together with our continental partners we are pursuing the vision of bringing African cities closer together and making travel between them cheaper and easier. 

The aviation sector is crucial to our efforts to drive tourism as an enabler of growth and job creation. 

In closing, this inaugural National Transport Conference must mark a turning point in South African transport. 

A modern, efficient and inclusive transport system will lower the cost of doing business, attract investment, create jobs and improve household incomes.

It will strengthen regional integration and make our economy more competitive. 

To build the partnership that this vision requires, I propose that we consider establishing a permanent Transport Council.

Modelled on our experience with the Energy Council, this would bring together government, the private sector, and all passenger and logistics service providers across land, air and sea. 

Just as collaboration transformed our energy response, cross-sector collaboration of this kind will enable further stabilisation and inclusive growth in transport. 

Let us seize this moment and place transport at the centre of our country’s growth path. 

With these words, I thank you for your attendance and declare the National Transport Conference officially open. 

I thank you.
 

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Africa’s Greenfield Exploration Surges to Meet Global Mineral Demand

Source: APO – Report:

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African mining markets are witnessing an unprecedented surge in greenfield exploration, with governments and investors racing to secure new mineral reserves and expand production pipelines. Last year, South Africa awarded 358 new exploration licenses, Ghana is advancing more than 90 projects and Namibia has received over 800 new applications – all signaling Africa’s intent to strengthen its role in supplying minerals vital to the global economy. The move comes as demand for critical minerals is projected to quadruple by 2040, while gold and other traditional commodities reach record prices, making exploration a strategic priority for industrial growth, job creation and downstream economic diversification.

South Africa: Securing Global PGMs Leadership

South Africa is boosting its exploration pipeline to sustain global leadership in platinum group metals, chrome and manganese while revitalizing gold and iron ore sectors. In 2025, the country awarded 358 new prospecting rights and 32 mining rights, signaling a significant step toward unlocking mineral resources and supporting long-term production growth.

To further stimulate exploration, the government allocated R2 billion to support junior mining companies and expand activity. These efforts are part of a broader plan to mobilize R2 trillion in investment for the critical minerals sector and unlock an estimated R40 trillion in untapped iron ore resources.

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Ghana: Gold Sector Growth and Industry Diversification

Ghana hosts over 90 active exploration projects, reinforcing its status as Africa’s leading gold producer while expanding into critical minerals. The country has attracted more than $20 billion in mining and exploration investment over the past two years, reflecting strong investor confidence.

Speaking in Cape Town in February, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, emphasized Ghana’s diverse resource base, which includes significant deposits of bauxite, manganese, iron ore, cobalt and nickel. “We are looking forward to further discoveries of critical minerals that will support the global energy transition,” he said.

Namibia: Accelerating Licensing to Unlock Critical Minerals

Namibia is reforming exploration licensing to expand its mining sector and strengthen its position as a leading uranium and diamond producer. The country currently holds 588 Exclusive Prospecting Licenses alongside a growing pipeline of new applications.

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Mining Commissioner Isabella Chirchir confirmed in Cape Town that Namibia is deploying digital licensing platforms to accelerate processing, reduce backlogs and improve regulatory efficiency. With over 800 new exploration license applications and more than 600 pending environmental approvals, the country is positioning itself to attract increased exploration investment and unlock new mineral discoveries.

Continental Outlook: Strategic Exploration Across Africa

Other African markets are also intensifying exploration to advance national mining strategies: Zambia is expanding copper exploration to reach 3 million tons annually by 2031. Guinea is progressing exploration around the $20 billion Simandou iron ore project, the world’s largest untapped iron ore deposit, supporting global steel supply chains and the Simandou 2040 economic diversification plan.

Against this backdrop, African Mining Week, scheduled for October 14–16, 2026 in Cape Town, will highlight exploration opportunities across the continent. The event will feature panel discussions, country spotlights and project showcases focused on greenfield exploration, investment opportunities and strategies to unlock Africa’s untapped mineral wealth.

African Mining Week serves as the premier platform for exploring the full spectrum of mining opportunities across Africa. The event is held alongside the African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2026 conference from October 12-16 in Cape Town. Sponsors, exhibitors and delegates can learn more by contacting sales@energycapitalpower.com.

– on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.

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Nelson Mandela Bay increases ward councillor discretionary fund

Source: Government of South Africa

Nelson Mandela Bay increases ward councillor discretionary fund

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has increased the Ward Councillor Discretionary Allowance from R100 000 to R150 000 per ward councillor, raising the total annual allocation from R6 million to R9 million per financial year.

The allowance increase was approved during a recent full council meeting.

The Ward Councillor Discretionary Allowance, also referred to as the Ward Councillor Discretionary Fund, is a limited municipal allocation intended to assist councillors in responding to urgent community needs and small-scale social support initiatives within their wards.

The fund enables councillors to assist vulnerable residents, support community-based activities, and address minor but pressing issues, that fall outside normal municipal service delivery programmes.

Council Speaker Eugene Johnson emphasised that the funds are not intended for personal benefit and must be utilised strictly for community purposes in line with approved municipal policies and procedures.

The administration and use of the allowance are primarily governed by the Municipal Finance Management Act (Act 56 of 2003), which regulates municipal expenditure and financial accountability, and the Municipal Systems Act (Act 32 of 2000), which promotes community participation and responsive local governance.

In addition, municipalities usually adopt council-approved policies and oversight mechanisms to ensure the fund is used transparently, responsibly, and strictly for legitimate community development purposes.

Council Speaker Eugene Johnson said the decision to increase the allocation was based on the realities faced by ward councillors working directly with communities.

Ward councillors are at the forefront of the challenges faced by our communities. They need to be in a position to respond through different interventions, one of those being the ability to positively contribute to the socio-economic conditions experienced by our residents.

“The funds might not be enough, but if properly utilised, they can contribute to poverty alleviation, grassroots sport development and addressing other community-based social challenges,” Johnson said.

The Ward Councillor Discretionary Allowance is not the only funding mechanism that supports development within municipal wards. Municipalities also implement ward level development through various funding streams provided through national transfers, municipal budgets, and intergovernmental programmes.

These include conditional grants such as the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG), which funds essential infrastructure projects such as roads, sanitation, water supply, and community facilities in underserved areas, as well as the Local Government Equitable Share, which assists municipalities in providing basic services to indigent households.

In addition, municipal capital budgets informed by the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) allocate funding for ward-based infrastructure and service delivery projects identified through community participation processes.

Collectively, these funding streams enable municipalities to address community needs, improve service delivery, and support sustainable development across municipal wards.

Other programmes such as the Community Works Programme (CWP), the Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant (NDPG), and other provincial or national initiatives further contribute to socio economic development at ward level. – SAnews.gov.za

 

 

GabiK

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Limpopo government assisting communities affected by floods

Source: Government of South Africa

Limpopo government assisting communities affected by floods

The Limpopo Provincial Government has assured residents that it is fully prepared to assist communities affected by flooding, which has caused widespread damage to roads and infrastructure in parts of the Waterberg, Vhembe and Mopani districts.

The Department of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure has dispatched engineers to assess the extent of the damage in the affected areas.

The damaged road infrastructure includes the D972 outside Vaalwater and the D192 in Mokgalakwena in the Waterberg District; the D3681 between Tshikunda and Vhufuli in Thulamela Municipality; and the D3830 at Mbhokota village, outside Louis Trichardt in the Vhembe District, as well as several routes in parts of Mopani District.

“Our teams, working together with the disaster management teams of municipalities and sister departments, will be on the ground to assess the extent of the damage caused, as well as ensuring that we come up with both temporary and long-term solutions to the challenges we are faced with as a province.

“We further advise all communities, road users in particular, to avoid flooded roads and bridges during this period and that they must also prioritise their safety,” MEC for Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure, Ernest Rachoene, said on Sunday in a media statement.

Premier Phophi Ramathuba said the current floods are a stark reminder of warnings issued by the South African Weather Service, indicating that Limpopo remains at risk until the end of March 2026. 

The weather service issued a warning for disruptive rainfall in the province from 14 to 15 March, with conditions likely to result in localised flooding in susceptible areas, potentially affecting roads, bridges, properties and municipal services.

With some areas experiencing over 100mm of rain in the last two days, the provincial government has asserted that it stands vigilant and proactive in its response to the ongoing crisis.

“We have received numerous distress calls, particularly from residents in affected districts where essential roads have been destroyed. Incidents, such as mudslides along the R523 between Khalavha and Sibasa and major challenges on the R33 in Waterberg, have been reported. Many low-lying bridges are submerged, rendering roads impassable to schools and health facilities,” the Premier said.

Considering these pressing circumstances, Ramathuba reassured residents that the Provincial Disaster Management Team is actively addressing these urgent needs. 

However, she cautioned that the saturated conditions may lead to delays in reaching some isolated areas. 

“We urge our residents to remain calm and prioritise their safety by avoiding flooded rivers and minimising movement as much as possible,” she said.

Meanwhile, the province has observed the Nwamanungu (Middle Letaba) Dam overflowing for the first time in years, posing a dire threat to communities previously spared from the floods.

The Limpopo Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC) is fully prepared to assist all affected communities. Residents are encouraged to report any incidents using the toll-free number 0800 222 111 or by contacting their local municipal offices.

Moreover, the Premier said an appeal to the national government will be made for the immediate reconsideration of funding to address the urgent needs arising from the ongoing disaster. 

“The challenges the province faces are overwhelming, and the residents deserve to have the resources necessary to navigate them,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za

Edwin

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