The World Bank is discussing a potential $1 billion loan to South Africa's government to help it reform its energy sector, a bank official told Reuters, as the country tries to overcome record power cuts that have crippled the economy.
The loan, which would be directly to the government rather than to state utility Eskom, is "under discussion", World Bank country director for South Africa Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly said in an interview at the bank's annual meetings in Marrakech, Morocco.South Africa is facing its worst ever power crisis with Eskom's ageing, coal-fired plants often breaking down. Rolling power cuts have crimped economic growth, while fuelling private investment in renewable energy.
In February, the South African government agreed to take on over 254 billion rand of Eskom's debt through a debt relief scheme, subject to conditions. In 2019, the government pledged to split Eskom into three subsidiaries - transmission, generation and distribution. Eskom said in August that its transmission arm would not be operational
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