State-owned development financier the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is gearing up to play a role in the public procurement of 7 615 MW of new electricity generation and storage capacity, including by facilitating participation for black-owned entities and communities. The DBSA has, to date, invested R12.4-billion into various projects procured since the launch [...]

Stellantis Ventures, the corporate venture fund of auto maker Stellantis, says it has “become a strategic investor” in Tiamat, a France-based company that is developing and commercialising sodium-ion battery technology. Sodium-ion technology offers a lower cost per kilowatt-hour, and is free of lithium and cobalt, which can be costly to mine and difficult to obtain.

JSE-listed midtier mining and materials company Afrimat says it is now awaiting approval from only the Competition Tribunal to proceed with its proposed acquisition of Lafarge South Africa. Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe consented to the acquisition on October 27, while the Financial Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank gave its approval for the [...]

South Africa’s national budget day is currently scheduled for 21 February, according to National Treasury, which added that the date still needed final confirmations. This year’s event will be closely watched, with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana having said during the medium-term budget presentation in November that significant cost-cutting measures will be undertaken within the government [...]

Cape Town’s proposed second big commercial airport, the Cape Winelands Airport (CWA), should receive its first passengers in 2027, says RSA.Aero MD Nick Ferguson. RSA.Aero is the project developer, with the first phase expected to cost between R5-billion and R7-billion.

China and Democratic Republic of Congo are discussing $7-billion in financing as part of a renegotiated minerals-for-infrastructure deal, President Felix Tshisekedi said Saturday at his second inaugural address in the capital, Kinshasa. Tshisekedi has been pushing for a restructuring of a 2008 $6.2-billion contract between the countries, which he says has provided little benefit to [...]

Velaphi Ntuli has returned as the general manager of Koeberg nuclear power station after he was suspended in June 2021 over performance issues - allegations of which he has since been cleared. At the time of his suspension, Koeberg's Unit 1 had not returned to service in May 2021 as scheduled. 

Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe re-published the Gas Amendment Bill on Friday for public comment despite the scant hope that it will be processed before Parliament dissolves at the end of March.  The bill, which will regulate the gas industry's development and make provisions for black economic empowerment, has been in the [...]

An investigation by the Department of Mineral Resource and Energy has uncovered that 70 petrol stations across the country are selling dodgy diesel to customers, a clear sign profiteers are cutting corners as petroleum prices continue to skyrocket. The watered-down diesel is allegedly contaminated and mixed with illuminated paraffin.

Oxford Economics’ Global Climate Service has updated its Sustainable Development scenario, with a focus on the required mitigation funding. It has modelled a scenario in which mitigation funding reaches $250-billion a year, Oxford Economics Scenarios and Macroeconomic Modelling climate economist Manuela Kiehl informed.

A new platinum group metals (PGM) recycling facility has opened in China, where the autocatalyst recycling market is expected to grow at the rate of 18% a year. Recycled PGMs are calculated to offer carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reduction of up to 98% when compared with mined PGMs.

Following delays and setbacks in recent years, roads parastatal South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) restarted works last year on the Mtentu and Msikaba megabridges, in the Eastern Cape, as part of the flagship N2 Wild Coast Road (N2WCR) project. The project covers 410 km between the N2 Gonubie Interchange near East London, in [...]