Power Cuts Have Reduced Potential Size of South Africa Economy by a Fifth, PIC Says

  • PIC manages $140 billion, is Africa’s biggest fund manager
  • PIC’s Mashele says outages slashing growth across economy
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Blackouts have reduced the potential size of South Africa’s economy by almost a fifth since they started being imposed around 2008, according to an energy specialist at Africa’s biggest fund manager.

Outages can be expected every week this year and if the inadequate electricity generation situation isn’t addressed the prospects for economic growth will be dismal, Lungile Mashele, sector specialist for energy and infrastructure at the Public Investment Corp., told a conference at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in Johannesburg on Thursday.