Новости за 02.04.2024

Sub-Saharan African private sustainable infrastructure project developer InfraCo Africa has made a $12-million equity investment in climate-smart agriculture equipment company SunCulture to scale the latter’s solar irrigation offering across the region. The investment is part of an oversubscribed $27.5-million Series B fundraise that is set to deliver access to Internet of Things (IoT-) enabled solar powered irrigation systems to hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers by 2030.

Greener food production methods and the avoidance of food waste are required to future-proof Africa’s food supply and to meet the expected future demand for nutrition in a sustainable way, says professional services firm PwC in its 'The sustainable food revolution: Future-proofing the world’s food supply' report. Sustainability concerns are increasingly being understood and recognised across the continent, with food producers and their partners beginning to look at new sustainable agricultural practices. Читать дальше...

Confidence in the construction industry has been erratic since 2020, compelling several industry players to close, and those who remain are exposed to risk, vigilante action and skills shortages; however, government’s stated commitment to making regulatory changes and spending on infrastructure do provide some light at the end of the tunnel, construction company GVK-Siya Zama says in a statement. “The industry needs a major boost to regain the prosperity of a decade ago. Much needs to be done to... Читать дальше...

Cast and machined components supplier Autocast South Africa is the first of more than 30 of Nelson Mandela Bay’s largest electricity users to benefit from a renewable power supply deal with electricity trading company Etana Energy. “This was borne out of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber’s (NMBBC) Renewable Energy Cluster, which brought together some of the highest energy users in the Bay around two years ago to find a common solution for procuring clean power. After going through a rigorous selection process... Читать дальше...

JSE-listed real estate investment trust (Reit) Emira and its wholly owned subsidiaries have agreed to dispose of 13 predominantly industrial and office properties situated in the Western Cape to Spear Reit for R1.15-million in cash. On March 28,  Spear entered into two inter-conditional sale of rental enterprise agreements with Emira Property Fund in terms of which Spear will buy the Western Cape property portfolio, comprising various properties and the rental enterprises conducted by the sellers on the properties as going concerns... Читать дальше...

Wind and solar resource assessment consultancy Eoltech has released findings of a new study that aims to assess the variations of the global wind resource over the last 15 years, with the data showing that worldwide, wind power production is “very predictable”, with yearly variations remaining within a ± 3% range. These results are based on irec index, the wind energy index covering 80% of the world’s onshore wind farms installed as of 2023.

Platinum group metals (PGM) prices, where they are now, do not reflect the medium to long-term supply demand fundamentals. Instead, they are driven by short-term distortions, which imply that a correction from current levels could be seen.

Financial services firm Standard Bank said digital transaction volumes increased by 23% between 2022 and 2023, and transaction volumes on its banking application increased by more than 35% during this period. The number of digitally active clients grew by 12.4% in 2022 compared with the prior year, and this trend continued in 2023, with digitally active clients growing by 8%.

Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), whose members include the largest domestic and foreign companies operating in South Africa, has added its voice to a growing chorus of opposition to the draft Integrated Resource Plan 2023 (IRP 2023) and has called for it to be “revised immediately”. Writing in her weekly newsletter, CEO Busisiwe Mavuso said no good case had been built for the assumptions in the IRP 2023 and warned that the document was “tainting” the positive news associated with reduced levels of loadshedding... Читать дальше...

South African clean energy infrastructure development and operation company Blue Energy Africa has highlighted its implementation of hybrid solar and battery energy systems for a major Western Cape agricultural company. The client was Robertson-based Smuts Brothers Agri (Smuts), which is a division of Lucerne Agri. The project was intended to significantly reduce the agri-business’ dependence on unreliable Eskom grid electricity, reduce energy costs, and cut its carbon emissions. The project was... Читать дальше...

As the citrus export season starts this month, the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) is confident that 37.9-million 15 kg cartons of lemons will be exported to key markets, which is an increase of 7% year-on-year. Lemon exports have more than doubled since 2016.

A joint venture between JSE-listed property investment company Calgro M3 and property development company Eris has acquired a strategic land parcel for the Bankenveld District City development, in Gauteng, with the aim to deliver 20 000 to 30 000 housing units alongside significant commercial, retail and industrial spaces. Both parties will share the cost of the infrastructure installation required for the development. After this, Calgro M3 will be responsible for the residential components of the development... Читать дальше...

The Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slipped back to below 50 points in March, decreasing to 49.2 index points, from 51.7 in February. Following robust improvements in February, both the business activity and new sales orders index declined in March, although the indices remained above the recent lows seen in January. Comments by respondents suggest that demand conditions were sluggish, Absa said in an April 2 media statement.

The brand-new platinum-catalysed hydrogen fuel cell system that has just been released for passenger cars reveals that fuel cells can be as cheap to manufacture as internal combustion engines (ICEs), UK company Intelligent Energy has highlighted in a release to Mining Weekly. The company’s patented system has been designed to give passenger car manufacturers direct access to the smaller, more powerful, turnkey and commercially viable hydrogen fuel cell solution that is needed to make zero carbon... Читать дальше...

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has launched South Africa’s third public procurement round for utility-scale batteries, while also extending the bid submission deadline for Bid Window Two (BW2) of the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP) launched in December, and naming a fifth preferred bidder from BW 1. In a statement, the department said the BESIPPPP BW3 request for proposals was seeking bidders for 616 MW/2 464 MWh of battery... Читать дальше...

China has a unique opportunity to drive forward an energy revolution in Africa, but it must first reverse nearly two decades of neglect of green power investments there, research from Boston University showed on Tuesday. Beijing has emerged as the continent's biggest bilateral trading partner since the start of the century and has financed billions of dollars worth of large-scale infrastructure projects.