Engineering News Online Audio Articles

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has confirmed the approval of a two-year Negotiated Pricing Agreement (NPA) between Eskom and Mpumalanga-based Manganese Metal Company (MMC).

The approval was granted by the Energy Regulator, Nersa's highest decision-making body, on July 30, following a public comment period, with the regulator concluding that the agreement was in line with the Department of Electricity and Energy's amended short-term framework for NPAs.

The agreement, Nersa said in a statement, applied to MMC's production of high-quality, selenium-free electrolytic manganese metal in Mbombela, where electricity accounted for about 41% of total production costs.

The NPA would be implemented from August 1, 2026, to July 31, 2028. The two-year duration was designed to cover the period ahead of the implementation of a renewable-energy power purchase agreement that MMC has concluded to meet 70% of its consumption.

Under the NPA, the Energy Regulator has approved a "special base tariff", which would escalate yearly on April 1 by the producer price index plus 1%.

Unlike an earlier deal between Eskom and ferrochrome producers Samancor Chrome and Glencore-Merafe, under which Nersa confirmed a tariff of 62c/kWh, details of the "special base tariff" for MMC were not disclosed.

An earlier Nersa consultation paper indicated that such disclosure would enable international competitors to establish MMC's breakeven price.

Nersa confirmed, however, that the NPA would cover only Eskom's variable costs and make a contribution to its fixed costs.

Eskom said standard-tariff customers would not subsidise the revenue under-recovery and justified the agreement on the basis that it secured baseload demand that had been made vulnerable by the rise in electricity tariffs. Eskom also said other customers and the broader economy would be negatively affected if the demand was lost.

MMC had a projected yearly baseload consumption of about 360 GWh when operating at a load factor above 90%, and Nersa said MMC would be liable for a minimum consumption payment based on 80% of normal consumption.

Eskom is required to submit progress reports to Nersa every three months, outlining actual electricity consumption, as well as costs and socioeconomic benefits compared with those presented in the application.

"This approval will help safeguard critical industrial capacity, preserve thousands of direct and indirect jobs, support local beneficiation and mitigate broader negative economic and social impacts on affected communities and the national economy," full-time regulator member primarily responsible for electricity regulation Willy Majola said.

At the time of the application, MMC indicated that it employed 380 full-time employees and 280 contractors to produce some 28 000 t of 99.9% selenium-free electrolytic manganese metal yearly.

The public comment phase for the much-anticipated revision to South Africa's electricity pricing policy (EPP) has been initiated following Cabinet's recent approval of the draft framework and amid growing affordability concerns.

In a briefing on the proposed changes, Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa acknowledged the pressures being faced by households and businesses as a result of tariffs that had increased by over 900% since 2007.

He thus placed particular emphasis on the draft EPP's proposal to increase the monthly free basic electricity (FBE) allowance for indigent households from 50 kWh currently to between 200 kWh and 300 kWh.

However, he said the increase would be implemented without increasing the yearly FBE grant envelope of R21-billion, arguing that it was premised on various efficiency gains and cost savings.

These included possible savings from using decentralised solar and battery microgrids to provide electricity to underserved areas, as well as from administration improvements linked to the proposed centralisation and modernisation of the register used to identify eligible indigent households.

The current municipal registers are considered to be unreliable and out of date, with research indicating that millions of eligible households are not receiving the intended benefit even though transfers are being made to municipalities.

Also included in the revision is a proposal to provide more electricity-dependent industries with tariff support using a standardised Negotiated Pricing Agreement (NPA) framework. The Minister indicated such NPAs could be extended even to industrial sectors not considered to be in distress but where the growth and jobs impacts would be material.

Recently, two ferrochrome producers secured tariffs of 62c/kWh from Eskom, which confirmed that it would not be making a profit from the arrangement. Instead it justified the move as a way of avoiding further demand losses, and that it would help it to partly offset unavoidable coal costs arising from take-or-pay agreements.

Under the new NPA framework, the draft policy proposes transparent financial treatment, including explicit handling of NPA-related revenue impacts, as well as a structured approach in relation to economic objectives.

The other elements proposed in the draft EPP include:

A five-year transition to cost-reflective tariffs;Greater billing transparency, including a breakdown of energy, network and ancillary service charges, as well as municipal surcharges;

Moves to eliminate discriminatory tariffs to address prevailing pricing differences between municipalities and customer categories;The compensation of prosumers through net-billing credits;

Protecting consumers from any price volatility arising from the introduction of a wholesale market;

Allowing customers a choice of suppliers by providing fair grid access and implementing transparent and cost-reflective network charges;

The publication by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa of a ten-year price forecast as a planning tool for businesses and municipalities;

Setting benchmarks for acceptable technical losses above which consumers should not be charged, while ensuring that losses from theft were not passed on to paying customers; and

Rationalising and standardising municipal tariffs to eliminate historical inconsistencies.

The draft EPP remains premised on licensed electricity suppliers earning sufficient revenue to cover their full costs and make a reasonable return, while promising stronger monitoring, compliance and verification measures to ensure a consistent application of the pricing principles.

The Department of Electricity and Energy has committed to consider integrating the public comments received into the final EPP, which will also be submitted to the National Economic Development and Labour Council for consultation.

The final policy would then require Cabinet approval before being Gazetted for implementation.

The revised EPP is due to...

South Africa remains on track for a record year of renewables additions this year, new research by the Power Futures Lab at the UCT Graduate School of Business has confirmed.

A briefing note written by Olakunle Alao and Wikus Kruger states that 17 independent power producer (IPP) projects with a combined capacity of 1 920 MW entered into commercial operation in the first six months of 2026.

The period recorded the country's largest-ever half-year additions and exceeded the previous full-year record of 1 472 MW, achieved in 2016.

"A further 28 IPP projects (2 202 MW) are expected to reach commercial operation in the second half, which would take full-year 2026 to roughly 4 123 MW, more than double the previous record."

Of the 17 commissioned projects, ten are privately procured, with a combined capacity of 1 046 MW and electricity being sold to mining or industrial offtakers.

The other seven projects (874 MW) have been procured under Bid Windows 5 and 6 of government's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, and the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.

Wind reached commercial operations across seven projects for a combined 815 MW during the six-month period.

The majority of the projects entering into commercial operation during the period achieved financial close in 2024.

The note, thus, draws attention to the fact that financial-close announcements were more muted during the period.

Only one project – the 77 MW/308 MWh Hartebeesfontein Battery Energy Storage System – achieved the milestone in the second quarter, after eight were announced between January 1 and April 30.

"This does not necessarily indicate weaker investor appetite.

"Some projects may be taking longer to clear the final commercial and grid-connection steps," the note reads.

The authors highlight that the connection process is multi-staged, and that developers have reported delays in processing and in coordination between Eskom's Grid Access Unit and the National Transmission Company South Africa.

They emphasise that it is not yet clear how much of the current slippage can be attributed to these factors.

However, the note has been published against the backdrop of far-reaching regulatory changes, which are yet to be finalised, as well as renewed uncertainty over Eskom's decommissioning schedule for its coal-fired power stations.

Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busisiwe Mavuso – who has had an ongoing public disagreement with Eskom's chairperson Mteto Nyati over the creation, with the transmission assets, of an independent Transmission System Operator (TSO) – says she does not have confidence that the current Eskom leadership is committed to government's reforms.

Writing in her weekly newsletter, Mavuso slammed those who she described as "reform resisters", taking particular aim at the Eskom board's current approach to the unbundling of the TSO, as well as the National Union of Mineworkers' legal challenge to the restructuring.

"I do not have confidence that the current Eskom leadership is genuinely committed to the success of these reforms," she writes, arguing that the board continued to foreground obstacles rather than solutions.

Eskom, which is highly indebted, values the grid assets at some R110-billion and, in December, proposed that the TSO be established without those assets, which it said should remain part of an Eskom subsidiary to avoid any potential default.

That position was overruled by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address in February, when he set up an Eskom Restructuring Task Team to assess ways of creating a TSO, with the assets.

In a report that the President subsequently endorsed, the task team confirmed the desirability and viability of creating a new State-owned entity with the transmission assets, triggering a second phase during which it would move to find implementation solutions.

Ramaphosa said on August 13 that the task team would pursue a restructuring plan that minimised financial, operational and fiscal risk, strengthened energy security, and contributed to reducing the cost of electricity.

"We will undertake this restructuring carefully and responsibly. We will safeguard the financial sustainability of Eskom. We will protect energy security. And we will ensure that workers are treated fairly," Ramaphosa said in a speech to the Steel and Engineering Federation of Southern Africa.

Nyati, whose term as board chair expires in October, has been vocal in his warning against the immediate transfer of the grid assets. This earned him a rebuke from the Presidency, who said it was unfortunate that an impression had been created that the process had not included Eskom and was to its detriment.

"All of Eskom's concerns are well known and have been thoroughly discussed in government and with Eskom," spokesperson Vincent Magwenya told Bloomberg.

Mavuso acknowledged that the restructuring of Eskom involved real complexity, but argued that there was a difference between acknowledging complexity and "weaponising it to resist change".

"Obviously, the transmission assets are currently on the balance sheet of the utility to which they have lent those billions. They will not want the creditworthiness of that utility compromised through the unbundling. That is perfectly understandable, and respect for the rights of lenders and other investors is paramount in the process. But the bankers and lenders I speak to are clear that they are open to the conversation. It just needs to start. The Eskom board is not starting it. That is the problem," she wrote.

Mavuso, who previously sat on the Eskom board, appealed for a board that sought solutions rather than obstacles and that was actively engaged with lenders to chart a clear reform pathway.

"Eskom's lenders are not against reform – most of them are strongly invested in seeing South Africa grow. What undermines their confidence is not the reform itself but the absence of credible implementation."

She also argued that the NUM's claim that the reforms would "kill Eskom" did not hold up.

"The real threat to Eskom is not unbundling; it is the R114bn in municipal arrears that continues to grow," she wrote.

Also questioned is the approach being made by Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to the Supreme Court to have a High Court judgment stopping new coal ...

South Africa's response to the gas-supply cliff, which will arise as supply to industrial users from Mozambique falls away later this decade, should be treated separately from the country's moves to shore-up electricity supply as coal stations are decommissioned, because conflating the two will result in sub-optimal outcomes.

This argument, which runs counter to the prevailing policy response, is being advanced by Naimon Capital executive director Roland Tatnall, who has 25 years of experience across the energy value chain, including as Exxaro's one-time energy MD, as well as as an investor and adviser.

He tells Engineering News that the current approach of using gas-to-power (GtP) plants at capacity factors above 50% to anchor liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports in order to also provide cheaper molecules to industrial users is flawed. This is because, even if the scale of those imports lowers the unit cost of regasified molecules for industrial users, his analysis indicates that it will still fail to deliver gas at prices that are commercially viable for most industrial consumers.

The conflation has occurred largely because two supply problems have arisen simultaneously: the imminent halt of gas supply from Sasol's Pande and Temane gas fields in southern Mozambique to industrial consumers mostly in Gauteng and Mpumalanga; and the scheduled retirement of several Eskom coal power stations.

Policymakers believe LNG imports to be the answer to both "cliffs", Tatnall explains. Firstly, to sustain supply to industrial users that collectively consume some 60 PJ of gas yearly, and also to fuel proposed GtP plants to partly cover any shortfall that could arise when 8 GW of coal capacity is decommissioned in the early 2030s.

The shape of the 'power cliff' component will be heavily influenced by the review Eskom is currently undertaking of its coal decommissioning schedule, with the State-owned utility likely to announce a delay to the schedule in September.

From an electricity perspective, Tatnall believes, the conflated solution will prevent GtP plants from playing the flexible role required in a power system increasingly supplied by variable renewable generators. That role involves deploying relatively expensive gas-fired electricity mainly as a gap filler and to provide ancillary services previously supplied by coal stations.

Operating such plants, which could initially include 2 GW of independent power producer GtP stations and a 3 GW Eskom plant in Richards Bay, at mid-merit or even base-supply profiles would crowd-out cheaper electrons, increase curtailment and raise electricity tariffs at a time when affordability has emerged as a major challenge.

COMMERCIAL VIABILITY IN DOUBT

More significantly, however, Tatnall questions whether imported LNG is a commercially viable solution to the supply problem being faced by the majority of the country's industrial gas users, which use gas as a process input for everything from steel and glass to ceramics, automobiles, fertilisers and food and beverages.

"For me, the question is whether the proposed remedy is actually solving the problem. Certainly, from a volume perspective LNG can meet the requirements, but it is far from certain that such imports can be delivered at a commercially viable price point."

In his view imported gas would, in the majority of cases, be too expensive to sustain competitive domestic production relative to import competition, as there would be limited buffers in place to move from a gas price of about $8/MMBtu currently to between $12/MMBtu and $15/MMBtu inland to Gauteng and Mpumulanga where most demand is currently concentrated.

"We already know that Sasol, which consumes about 120 PJ of the 180 PJ imported yearly from Mozambique, says it will not be able to produce its fuels and chemicals competitively using imported LNG.

"While some industrial users could absorb or pass on the higher costs of LNG to customers, the majority of them have very little scope to d...

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the relationship between South Africa’s infrastructure plans and possible industrial renewal, which came into focus this week when President Cyril Ramaphosa met with the metals and engineering industry.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated the importance of the creation of a fully independent, State-owned transmission company to the development of a competitive electricity market where there is fair access to all market participants.

Speaking to the Steel and Engineering Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) following his recent endorsement of the Phase I report of the Eskom Restructuring Task Team, which confirmed the feasibility of establishing a Transmission System Operator (TSO) with grid assets, the President outlined three objectives for Phase II.

These included minimising financial, operational and fiscal risk; strengthening energy security; and contributing to reducing the cost of electricity.

"We will undertake this restructuring carefully and responsibly. We will safeguard the financial sustainability of Eskom. We will protect energy security. And we will ensure that workers are treated fairly," Ramaphosa said.

No direct reference was made to the National Union of Mineworkers' threat of legal action against the unbundling, or to remarks by Eskom chairperson Mteto Nyati raising questions about the timing of the asset transfer to the TSO, as well as potential financial risks associated with transferring assets valued at R110-billion from an entity that had major debt obligations.

Instead, Ramaphosa noted that countries across the world had restructured their electricity industries to introduce competition while maintaining public ownership of critical infrastructure.

"South Africa can do the same," he averred, indicating during a later question and answer session that he was "in a hurry to have these reforms bedded down".

"We need to inject growth into the economy. We cannot have a situation where jobs continue to be lost whilst we are waiting to stabilise the reforms. The reforms will underpin precisely the growth and the job creation that we want to see."

AFFORDABILITY IN FOCUS

Ramaphosa also linked the restructuring of the electricity supply industry to the goals of addressing electricity affordability and stimulating industrialisation.

With loadshedding under control, the next phase of electricity reform would focus on reducing the cost of electricity, he said, while acknowledging that electricity prices had become an existential risk to some industries.

"Competition between generators, combined with expanded transmission capacity and continued investment in new generation, must ultimately produce a more efficient electricity system and put downward pressure on the cost of power."

Ramaphosa also argued that the energy transition should become an industrial transition, highlighting in particular the potential manufacturing spin-offs from the build-out of 14 500-km of new transmission infrastructure.

"Nowhere is the industrial opportunity more immediate than in the expansion of our electricity transmission network," he said, indicating that the roll-out would require everything from fabricated steel and cables to transformers, insulators and switchgear.

"And behind every one of these products are factories, workers, engineers, artisans and suppliers. This should become one of the great industrial projects of our generation."

INFRASTRUCTURE & INDUSTRIALISATION

Likewise, Ramaphosa argued that the larger R1-trillion infrastructure drive should be viewed as both a construction and industrialisation opportunity.

However, he also said that localisation should not become a licence for inefficiency or excessive prices.

Responding to questions about whether South Africa's manufacturers were receiving adequate protection and support, the President argued in favour of a balanced trade policy that protected domestic producers against unfair competition, while ensuring that downstream manufacturers could access competitively priced inputs.

"The work being undertaken by the International Trade Administration Commission on steel tariffs and rebates is intended to achieve precisely this balance," he said, while describing t...

The South Africa Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) stands firm on its view that the country's water crisis needs to be declared a national disaster.

This is despite the publication last month of the National Water Plan, developed by the Presidency-led National Water Crisis Committee (Watercom), which promised to tackle the long-standing water challenges.

SAHRC Commissioner Dr Henk Boshoff said that given the scale, scope and magnitude of the water crisis, the commission is calling for the water crisis to be declared a national disaster in accordance with the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002.

Speaking during a SAHRC-hosted webinar on the water crisis, he explained the water crisis requires an urgent, broad, integrated and coordinated effort, and the declaration of a state of national disaster will enable the mobilisation of emergency funds, better intergovernmental collaboration and deliver a coordinated process.

Water-related complaints continue to rank in the top five complaints received by the SAHRC.

This, alongside the commission's six provincial inquiries related to water since 2021 across KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State, Northern Cape and Gauteng, and the South African Water Rights Tracker, a project partnership between the SAHRC and the University of the Witwatersrand, reveal the scale of the crisis.

Through the inquiries and the Water Rights Tracker, the SAHRC has identified several drivers that inhibit the ability of water services authorities to effectively deliver water.

These include aging infrastructure; an inadequate funding model; high levels of indebted to water boards, at R28-billion; skills deficit and lack of capacity in technical departments; the discharge of untreated effluent into water resources and high levels of water losses; water sabotage, theft of infrastructure and emergence of water mafias; and a water tankering system fraught with corruption.

Boshoff said the water crisis is widespread and causing a significant disruption in the lives of communities.

"We are aware that the National Water Action Plan was recently released. We agree that the symptoms have been identified. We agree that there is a proper diagnosis of the problem," he said, questioning, however, if the action plan adequately deals with the challenges going forward.

The SAHRC is of the view that declaring a national state of disaster will, among others, ensure greater and enhanced governmental collaboration, budget prioritisation and emergency and speedier procurement.

"Government simply does not have sufficient funds at this stage to address the water crisis, and it will be a process that will be unfolding over quite a few years," Boshoff continued, noting that time will tell whether the national water plan is sufficient to address the water crisis.

Unpacking the National Action Plan during the seminar, Department of Water and Sanitation director general Dr Sean Phillips said that a state of disaster will not achieve much more than what is already being undertaken to ensure water security.

He agreed that urgent action is needed to address immediate crises, however, reforming the sector for long-term sustainability is also required.

The declaration of a national state of disaster will not address the core causes of the challenges, and would not result in a sustainable sector.

"I can understand the reasoning for it, but I am still not convinced that it would result in much more than is currently the case. [Emergency procurement, for example] might, in the short term, result in some [elements] being addressed more quickly. But unless you address the root causes, the problems are going to keep coming back," Phillips noted.

The National Water Action Plan contains the elements required to address the real root causes, which the disaster provisions could not do.

Further, he said it would not result in much more money being allocated.

"It is a zero-sum game. If you are going to take the money, where do we take it from? Do we...

Mining explosives and chemicals group AECI is preparing to invest between R700-million and R900-million to modernise its historic Modderfontein facility, in Gauteng, which the group views as key to its ongoing competitiveness in southern and central Africa.

CEO Alan Dickson, who took up the position on July 1, tells Engineering News & Mining Weekly that the company has already made some initial investments at the facility in a bid to improve efficiencies and raise utilisation levels.

Speaking following the release of improved interim results for the period to June 30, he described these low-capital investments as the first phase of a larger optimisation plan for Modderfontein, whose future was in doubt a few years ago.

"The second part of that is a larger-scale, more complex exercise, which focuses on a number of the core parts of the business," Dickson said in an interview.

He indicated that the complex engineering work for the next phase was under way and would be followed by a contracting phase ahead of project execution.

The brownfield investments will take place within AECI's existing footprint and are expected to be completed over a three- to four-year horizon.

The project will seek to sustain AECI's competitive position in southern and central Africa, which remain core markets, alongside the group's focus on expanding into the Asia-Pacific region as part of the ongoing internationalisation of its core mining-related business.

AECI's mining business was also the standout performer during the interim period, when the group reported a 20% rise in interim profit from continuing operations to R837-million.

Despite a 4% period-on-period decline in revenue, to R15.1-billion from R15.7-billion, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose 2% to R1.6-billion, while headline earnings a share rose 8% to 653c.

AECI declared an interim dividend of 116c/share, which was 16% higher period-on-period.

Dickson indicated that the outlook for the mining business remained strong for the second half, supported by the securing of new contracts in Mali, Zambia, Burkina Faso and South Africa, as well as the successful renewal of key contracts in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso.

Results for AECI Chemicals, meanwhile, were dampened by the poor performance of AECI Schirm Germany, where challenging market conditions resulted in operating losses and an impairment charge of R320-million.

Excluding Schirm, the part of the segment referred to by AECI as 'Chemicals Core' delivered a strong performance, with Ebitda increasing by 14% to R365-million.

However, Dickson said there had been no further decisions on non-core disposals and that further clarity on any "strategy refresh" would be provided when the group reported its year-end results.

He stressed, though, that there would be no deviation from the three strategic pillars already in place, which seek to leverage the group's strengths, prioritise resilience and enhance the quality of earnings.

During the six-month period, the focus on resilience led to an investment in inventories in response to volatility in raw material pricing and supply arising from disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

While geopolitical volatility was expected to persist in the second half, Dickson indicated that there was potential for some unwinding of working capital during the period, which could improve free cash flow.

AECI was also closely monitoring the influence that the current Super El Niño could have on the domestic agriculture sector, however, which could affect sales for its plant health business in the second half or in the new year.

"While market conditions remain mixed, particularly in chemicals, our mining business continues to perform strongly, our balance sheet remains strong, and we remain committed to delivering predictable, sustainable value through disciplined execution and operational excellence," Dickson said.

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...