Africa must seize the global critical minerals opportunity to accelerate industrialisation, create jobs and deepen regional economic integration rather than continue exporting raw materials, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola argues.

Speaking at the Ambassadorial Breakfast on Africa's Growth Through Critical Minerals event, hosted by Absa in partnership with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), in Johannesburg, on August 7, he said Africa's vast critical mineral endowment positioned the continent at the centre of the global energy transition.

He noted that Africa possesses many of the minerals required for clean energy technologies, including platinum group metals (PGMs), copper, manganese, bauxite and graphite, making the continent indispensable to the global transition to a low-carbon economy.

"Our continent has many of the minerals that are critical to the global energy transition. These minerals are essential to technologies, ranging from solar panels and wind turbines to electric vehicles and energy storage systems. Africa is, therefore, central to the transition to a low-carbon future," Lamola said.

However, Lamola cautioned that resource abundance alone would not guarantee prosperity and said Africa must break longstanding patterns in which minerals are exported for processing elsewhere before being re-imported as higher-value products.

He stressed the need for greater beneficiation and industrial capacity across the continent.

He also warned that rising demand for critical minerals could either usher in a new era of shared prosperity or intensify extraction, conflict and instability on the continent if governments failed to implement prudent, long-term and localised growth-enabling policies.

Meanwhile, Lamola has also welcomed policy interventions by countries including South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi to promote local value addition, highlighting that these efforts support the implementation of the African Green Minerals Strategy and the G20 Critical Minerals Framework.

"Within [the G20 last year,] intra-Africa payment systems [were highlighted] as a critical area of cooperation.

"How we manage the promise and peril of this moment will determine whether we realise Agenda 2063's vision of a peaceful, integrated and prosperous Africa anchored in the ideals of Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance," Lamola said.

He also stressed that industrialisation was essential to addressing Africa's demographic challenge, noting that while between ten-million and twenty-million young people enter the labour market each year, Africa creates only about three-million formal jobs a year.

Lamola's remarks echoed those of Absa Group CEO Kenny Fihla, who highlighted that Africa had reached a defining moment as growing global demand for critical minerals repositioned the continent as a strategic player in the global economy.

"Africa is at an inflection point. Global demand for critical minerals has repositioned our continent as a strategic supplier to the world but the question we must now confront more fundamentally is whether Africa can harness this moment to power its own industrialisation," Fihla said.

He also argued that unlocking the continent's mineral wealth would require closer collaboration between governments, finance and industry, stronger implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and greater investment in regional industrial capacity, adding that Africa's "future competitiveness would be determined not by what it extracts, but by what it builds".

Lamola called on business to work alongside governments to accelerate growth through mining, manufacturing and agriculture, arguing that stronger public-private partnerships would be essential to unlocking Africa's economic potential.

He concluded by pointing out that addressing the root causes of migration, including unemployment, weak economic growth, climate change and conflict, woul...

South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has set a target of disbursing R51.5-billion in funding over the coming three financial years having aligned its corporate plan to government's new industrial strategy.

In a presentation this week to Parliament's Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade, acting COO David Jarvis reported that the State-owned development financier would continue to support established industries while seeking to catalyse future-focused value chains identified in the Industrial Development Strategy (IDS) of 2026.

The IDS was unveiled by Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau earlier this year and has been anchored on industrialisation pathways associated with decarbonisation, diversification and digitalisation.

The IDC indicated that it is gearing up to support growth in critical minerals and battery value chains, green and circular-economy industries, tourism and services, digital and blue-economy activities, agro-industrial expansion, and the industrial infrastructure needed to support higher levels of productivity. It will also invest in regional industrial value chains, but do so in partnership and as a minority shareholder.

The corporate plan envisages disbursements of R16.3-billion in the 2026/27 financial year, R17.4-billion in 2027/28 and R17.8-billion in 2028/29, with the primary funding source being internally generated cash, with limited borrowings.

It is envisaged that R17.4-billion will be directed towards manufacturing, especially machinery, equipment and electronics, followed by energy and infrastructure (R11.7-billion), mining and metals (R5.8-billion), agro-processing (R4.5-billion) and tourism and services (R2-billion).

Jarvis reported that the group would also seek to implement structural savings of R1.6-billion over the period.

The presentation was made while Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition was hosting a separate colloquium on the IDS, which also proposes various support measures for existing industries facing cost and import pressures, including steel, smelters and automotives.

Interventions under consideration range from special electricity pricing deals and higher import tariff protection to tax incentives, with the goal of stabilising manufacturing, whose contribution to GDP has fallen to about 13% from 21% in 1994.

In a presentation to the committee, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) suggested that consideration be given to exempting the IDC from corporate income tax "in order to facilitate industrial development".

In addition, the dtic proposed that South Africa should consider enabling the IDC and the Development Bank of Southern Africa to play a greater role in the ownership and financing of strategic sectors under the ownership of the government, making specific reference to Foskor and ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA).

AMSA is currently trading under a cautionary relating to its ongoing talks with the IDC over a possible transaction, while Foskor, which is a fertiliser producer, is already an IDC subsidiary.

The IDC made no reference to the possible AMSA transaction in its presentation.

In response to questions, it confirmed that Foskor was facing fresh financial pressures following recent improvements that had arisen from the implementation of a turnaround strategy.

These new difficulties were attributed largely to an increase in the price of key inputs such as sulphur and ammonia, which had surged as a result of disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses President Cyril Ramaphosa's endorsement of the Phase I report of the Eskom Restructuring Task Team, which supports the creation of a new independent Transmission System Operator, as well as what this means and the next steps to be

Saffron is the world's most expensive spice, priced at between $5 000 and $10 000 a kilogramme.

Iran is the world's biggest producer, pushing out between 85% to 90% of yearly global production, followed by Afghanistan and India in a distant second and third spot.

South Africa doesn't feature anywhere on the list of significant global producers, but, when considering the arid landscape of the countries where the saffron flower thrives, one can conceive that it would be able to grow in certain parts of the country.

Cue Bennie Engelbrecht, former SuperSport producer who studied agriculture and, in 2013, at the age of 47, decided to swap the broadcast industry for farming.

Engelbrecht didn't choose just any old crop to kick off his new career, but one that hasn't yet been produced in South Africa at scale – saffron.

Following extensive research, he imported bulbs from The Netherlands and started the cultivation process in Pretoria. From here on, he moved to the Calvinia area, and then finally on to Piketberg, in the Western Cape, in 2023 – an area he ultimately found to be well-suited to saffron production.

Today, Saffricon is an agricultural company that cultivates and commercialises saffron; supplies acclimatised saffron bulbs to other farmers; and also supports local small-scale and commercial saffron farmers.

"It took two years before we could harvest the first saffron," says Bennie's son and Saffricon marketing and strategic manager Tiaan Engelbrecht.

That first harvest delivered a steep learning curve, he adds.

Saffron is called red gold for a reason. Each purple flower from a saffron plant produces only three tiny red threads (stigmas).

The flowers must be hand-picked, and the delicate threads pulled out by hand to dry – a process which sees the threads lose roughly 80% of their mass.

The end-result – the tiny, delicate, deep-red dried thread – is called saffron.

It takes about 75 000 to 150 000 flowers to make 500 g to one kg of dry saffron.

"Another challenge with harvesting saffron is that you must collect the flowers within 24 hours of the petals opening to ensure the best quality product," explains Tiaan.

"Also, when you finally reach the other side of the field, new flowers may have opened up where you started harvesting this morning, which means that you have to go back and rework the field."

Harvest time is usually a nonstop process for a three- to five-week period in May and June.

Harvesting saffron is such swift, backbreaking work that Saffricon is currently testing the use of a wearable, powered exoskeleton device to assist workers with the continuous bending down in the sandy soil in which saffron grows in South Africa.

"It is not possible to mechanise the harvesting, as the work is much too delicate. It is, however, possible to assist the workers who harvest the flowers," says Tiaan.

During growth season, it takes between 25 and 30 people to bring in the Saffricon harvest.

"Saffron is a labour-intensive crop, and we regard this as a good thing in South Africa," says Tiaan.

Today Saffricon farms saffron on 5.5 ha of land.

Other South African farmers have also turned to saffron, but not on Saffricon's scale.

"We'll only buy saffron from other Saffricon certified growers," notes Tiaan. "Counterfeit saffron has become a huge issue in the international market."

True South African saffron is some of the best quality in the world, he adds.

"The International Organisation for Standardisation says we produce grade 1 saffron.

"We believe large parts of the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape are well suited to growing saffron."

Saffron needs little water – around 350 mm for the entire season, says Tiaan, with small fields able to deliver high yields. Western Cape saffron is also harvested when the province's traditional crops are typically still growing, or dormant.

Saffron's use is also expanding, says Tiaan, which will boost production in the long run.

It is traditionally used to season dishes such as paell...

South Africa's electricity sector is facing an "interesting challenge", with the grid not designed for dispatched generation of intermittent energy sources, National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) CEO Monde Bala told delegates at the South Africa-China Electricity & Energy Investment Conference, being held in Beijing, China, this week.

To accommodate the changes in the energy mix and the change in geographical location of those energy sources, the NTCSA, a subsidiary of State-owned power utility Eskom, is undertaking the Transmission Development Plan (TDP). However, it does not have the requisite capacity to undertake the necessary expansion of the grid on its own and is calling on international partners to assist.

The conference is a high-level investment mission by South Africa's Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, aimed at unlocking strategic partnerships and investment for the country's energy future.

Bala acknowledged that the TDP's aspirations are "ambitious", but that this is what is required. While the entity is currently "struggling" to meet the required pace, "with a lot of effort and intervention", it would be able to deliver, he assured South Africans during an interview on the sidelines of the event.

Bala pointed out that, with the TDP in its second year of implementation, with several lines having started, the pace is still a little slow as delivery mechanism are shored up.

Bala stressed that "any tardiness" on the rollout of the TDP would impact on the rollout of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and that the NTCSA is cognisant of what is at stake.

He assured that measures are in place to hold the entity accountable.

Bala explained that the IRP sets out a target of about 105 GW of new generation capacity by 2039 and that this generation requires transformation of the national transmission grid to ensure the generation reaches customers and supports industrial growth.

Bala highlighted that priority transmission expansion projects represent a R134-billion in investment opportunity, within a broader R440-billion decade-long programme.

This TDP programme entails the construction of about 14 500 km of new transmission lines by 2034 and the installation of about 133 000 MVA of transformer capacity.

The R134-billion figure represents prioritised NTCSA transmission expansion projects across the country and is a concrete near-term package within the broader TDP.

The TDP outlines a sequenced, decade-long response aligned to IRP period one which runs from this year to 2030, and period two which runs beyond 2030.

The first five years focus on about 5 000 km of lines and substantial transformer capacity to unlock about 30 GW of new generation. With the capital budget secured for this period, the NTCSA has moved into execution, Bala averred.

He noted that delivery will combine NTCSA's own investment, engineering, procurement and construction packages and independent transmission projects, engendering multiple entry points for private capital.

Bala pointed out that the NTCSA does not have the capacity to fully execute the new lines and needs to plug the gap, adding that the conference in Beijing is a "critical engagement" to help meet the R134-billion investment target.

He posited that Chinese capital, technology, delivery capability and long-term partnership are crucial to achieve the required pace and scale.

Bala highlighted a "strategic participation" opportunity for Chinese partners, that moves beyond mere equipment supply and spans the entire value chain.

This includes equity and project investment, EPC and project delivery, equipment and technology supply with localisation, manufacturing and localisation, financing partnerships and long-term partnerships.

He noted that, with South Africa having invested very little in transmission infrastructure in the last decade and a half, this capacity needs to be rebuilt, and Chinese expertise would supplement what the country already has.

Mor...

The first 25 turbines at Seriti Green's Ummbila Emoyeni Wind Farm, which is rising in the coal heartland of Mpumalanga within site of the giant Secunda coal-to-liquids complex and in close proximity to three Eskom power stations, have officially entered commercial operation.

The milestone was commemorated at a ceremony presided over by President Cyril Ramaphosa on July 31, and represents the first 155 MW phase of a planned 900 MW renewable energy roll-out by Seriti Green in the province, with construction on the first project having begun in April 2023.

Seriti Resources CEO Mike Teke, who is also Seriti Green's chairperson, rejected the notion that the renewables investment represents "green washing" by a company built on coal mining, and whose mines are one of the anchor customers for the electricity arising from the wind farm.

Power purchase agreements (PPAs), he noted, had also been signed with energy traders Energy Exchange, NOA and most recently Etana Energy, which initialled a PPA at the ceremony.

Instead, Teke reiterated his stance that the investment signified the group's goal of being an "energy company" that would invest in wind, solar and battery energy storage, while continuing to produce coal, including from its new Naudesbank Colliery which had a 20-year life-of-mine.

To date, Seriti had invested R15-billion in the wind project, in which Standard Bank and Rand Merchant Bank have also taken equity, and it signed a new agreement with Standard Bank for a further R10-billion in investment, raising the overall investment commitment to R25-billion.

It also concluded another engineering procurement and construction contract with Chinese turbine supplier Goldwind, which had already installed 48 turbines on the site, of which 25 were operating.

Seriti Green also had agreements in place with construction group Stefanutti Stocks and Tractionel, which Seriti credited for delivering the key R1.2-billion main transmission substation (needed to connect the wind farms to the grid and which had been delivered to the National Transmission Company South Africa) in an impressive 17 months.

"Across the road from where we stand today, we are planning a further 600 MW of wind energy development," Seriti Green CEO Peter Venn enthused during a speech at the company's new Mpumalanga Office in Bethal that is also its remote operations and training centre.

The office is in close proximity to the wind farm sites on farms, several of which continue to produce maize and rear livestock, in Bethal, Davel and Morgenzon. The English translation of the isiZulu name 'Ummbila Emoyeni' is 'maize in the air'.

"Together with Ummbila Emoyeni, Phefumula Emoyeni will create one of the largest renewable-energy precincts in Southern Africa, all 187 turbines," Venn added, indicating that it was likely to invest a total of R40-billion in renewables in Mpumalanga.

Plans were already advancing for a solar PV project on land rehabilitated by Middelburg Mine Services in partnership with Eskom Green alongside the utility's Duvha power station, and investigations were under way into battery energy storage systems.

Venn also linked the project directly to government's ongoing 'Just Energy Transition' objectives, noting that 2 100 employees had contributed to the renewables project to date, including many individuals drawn from the coal industry.

"We have amazing skills in the coal sector – all we need to do is cross skill them into the language of wind energy.

"These skills are totally transferable, so I'm very comfortable that, with the support of government, we can deploy 10 000 construction jobs in the renewable-energy sector for the next decade," Venn concluded.

The giant 420 MW Northern Cluster, comprising three large wind farms under construction in the Karoo, is still anticipated to enter into commercial operation before the end of 2026, despite unprecedented recent rainfall in the region that affected site activity.

The three 140-MW-apiece projects, known as Khangela, Umsinde and Ishwati Emoyeni, are being built by South African independent power producer Anthem and co-shareholder Reatile Renewables.

Located across several farms near the Karoo towns of Murraysburg and Richmond on the border between the Western and Northern Cape provinces, the wind farms involve a combined investment of almost R15-billion. This includes a shared main transmission substation (MTS) and some 70 km of self-build 132 kV powerlines to facilitate wheeling through the national grid.

The project has created over 1 400 jobs in construction and will create over 50 jobs in operations. It will invest many millions into local area development projects over the next 20 years.

All three projects are anchored by commercial and industrial (C&I) power purchase agreements (PPAs) of between 20 and 25 years that were concluded with private offtakers in 2024.

The electricity to be produced from Khangela is contracted to Richards Bay Minerals, of KwaZulu-Natal, while precious metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater has signed a PPA for the electricity arising from Umsinde. Electricity producer and trader NOA has contracted to purchase the electricity arising from the Ishwati wind farm.

Anthem CEO James Cumming tells Engineering News that he is optimistic that commercial operation dates in the fourth quarter of 2026 remain within reach, despite a force majeure declaration by the contractors following heavy rains between February and June this year.

The Khangela and Umsinde facilities are expected to begin producing first, having advanced to financial close in May of 2024, whereas Ishwati achieved the milestone in September of the same year.

96 TURBINES, OVER 1 000 TRUCK MOVEMENTS

Original-equipment manufacturer Vestas is supplying 96 V163 turbines, rated at 4.5 MW each, across all three projects, while South African construction group Raubex has been contracted for the civil and electrical works associated with the balance of plant.

All turbine towers were procured locally from GRI's manufacturing facility in Atlantis, Western Cape.

The logistics for the project were significant, with well over 1 000 truck movements involved in getting the massive turbine equipment to site after their delivery to the Port of Ngqura, in the Eastern Cape. An exercise that led to some frustrating road congestion at times.

The shared Gamma B MTS has been built by a joint venture comprising South African companies Adenco Construction and CSV Construction to specifications set by the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA), which has already taken over the facility.

The substation includes 400 kV and 132 kV infrastructure, a 500 MVA transformer, and provision for future feeders and transformers, and Cumming says it has been a distinguishing feature of the Northern Cluster, as it was the first MTS project undertaken by Anthem.

This inaugural MTS project is viewed as an important learning for Anthem, which is now building another MTS in the Free State for its 475 MW Notsi PV project, and expects to begin construction on another later this year or in early 2027.

Gamma B was energised in early 2026, which represented a key milestone in eventually connecting the wind projects to the NTCSA network.

The fact that the offtakers are all commercial businesses has also been a significant feature of the development for Anthem, given that African Clean Energy Developments and EIMS Africa, which merged to form Anthem in 2025, were major participants in government's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

Cumming says that while there are many similarities between public and private procurement and that it remains sup...

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Natasha Odendaal discusses the state of South Africa's water sector and the publication of the National Water Action Plan, which sets out short-, medium- and long-term strategic interventions to reverse the significant deterioration in water sup

Cabinet has approved the publication of the much-anticipated Revised Electricity Pricing Policy for public comment, amid growing affordability concerns following years of above-inflation tariff hikes.

The statement released after the July 29 Cabinet meeting indicates that the proposed revision moves to update the 2008 Electricity Pricing Policy in a way that reflects developments in the electricity supply industry, including ongoing market reforms arising from the unbundling of Eskom and the implementation of the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act of 2024.

"The policy strengthens the regulatory framework governing electricity prices, tariffs, and charges, and provides tariff transparency through the unbundling of tariffs across generation, transmission, distribution and retail activities, thus consolidating regulatory arrangements for electricity pricing across the various pricing interfaces between generators, traders, the National Transmission Company South Africa, and distributors," the statement reads.

The policy also supports the introduction of cost-reflective tariffs while protecting vulnerable users and strategic economic sectors, but without naming those sectors.

It also reportedly establishes the framework through which these interfaces will be enabled and regulated by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), which has already approved discounted tariffs for two ferrochrome companies and is considering negotiated pricing agreements (NPAs) for other ferroalloy producers, as well as other sectors.

On July 30, the Energy Regulator, Nersa's highest decision-making body, met to approve Eskom's application for a two-year NPA for the Manganese Metal Company, while ArcelorMittal South Africa expressed optimism at the release of its interim results that it, too, would be finalising an NPA with Eskom in the not-too-distant future.

MARKET TRANSFORMATION

Meanwhile, Cabinet also approved the publication of a Draft Electricity Sector Market Transformation Position Paper for public comment.

The paper, the statement reads, will provide a framework to guide South Africa's transition from a predominantly State-controlled electricity system to a more competitive electricity market, in line with the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act, 2024, and the Energy Action Plan.

Proposed reforms, the statement adds, seek to improve energy security and reliability by reducing reliance on a single electricity supplier and enabling greater participation in electricity generation and trading.

"The reforms are also aimed at attracting investment in electricity generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, supporting job creation and economic growth, and reducing electricity costs over the long term."

Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has been flagging the importance of both documents for some time and is expected to provide a briefing on their contents on his return from an investment promotion mission to China, which is currently under way.

Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) insists that it is fundamentally stronger than was the case 18 months ago and that "profitability is within reach", after reporting a headline loss of R1.49-billion during the first half of 2026.

The JSE-listed company had, over the past 18 months, placed its longs business into care and maintenance, leading to the closure of the Newcastle Works in KwaZulu-Natal, which contributed to some of the nonrecurring costs during the period.

It is also trading under a cautionary in relation to a possible transaction with the Industrial Development Corporation, on which no update was provided in the interim results.

CEO Kobus Verster said the loss was heavily influenced by R571-million of nonrecurring charges, including R38-million in severance and credit loss charges, R222-million of charges to support liquidity, R74-million to settle a legacy municipal legal dispute, and R237-million relating to the recovery of the blast furnace chilled hearth conditions in January 2026.

CFO Gavin Griffiths said that, without those charges, the group's normalised earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) would have reflected a profit of R160-million.

Instead, it reported an Ebitda loss of R409-million, a deterioration against the R110-million loss in the same period of 2025.

"The business is moving closer to profitability, though it is not there just yet," Griffiths added.

However, market conditions during the period from January to the end of June were also described by Verster as "exceptionally difficult", characterised by weak domestic demand, elevated imports and global steel overcapacity.

AMSA's flat steel capacity utilisation decreased from 69% to 66%, with Verster reporting that its Vanderbijlpark assets operated at the lowest levels technically possible in response to weak market conditions.

Crude steel production of 837 000 t was 5% lower when the output from Newcastle was excluded from the corresponding period, and 35% lower overall, while sales volumes of 758 000 t decreased by 2%, excluding Newcastle's prior-period contribution.

Overall, AMSA estimated that South Africa's apparent flat-steel consumption was 2% higher at 1.3-million tonnes, but steel imports remained elevated at 47% of that consumption, or 629 000 t, including 396 000 t that Verster said could be manufactured locally.

Market conditions were expected to remain challenging in the second half, but Verster said a combination of infrastructure investment and trade protection were expected to provide stronger demand support into 2027.

"Cost competitiveness remains a key focus, with initiatives targeting lower energy and logistics costs, fixed costs, footprint optimisation, AI-enabled productivity and automation," he said, while indicating that he was optimistic of reaching a deal with Eskom on a negotiated pricing agreement.

The group was also assessing lower-cost road-to-rail options for coke imports from Zimbabwe and would assess prospects of reducing logistics costs further through contracting with a private train operating company.

Nevertheless, rand strength against the dollar represented a material risk to the second half outlook.