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Yellen Visits South Africa, De Ruyter Points To Load-Shedding Relief By End-March

SOUTH AFRICA
  • U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen touched down in South Africa today, a day after the departure Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. She is expected to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa as part of her 10-day tour of three African democracies. The U.S. and Russia have launched diplomatic offensives amid growing polarisation over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and the consequences of the conflict for the developing nations. South Africa has refused to take sides and confirmed plans to hold joint military drills with China and Russia, even as Western economies are its biggest trading partners, while a new survey showed that most South Africans would prefer to live and work in one of the Western liberal democracies.
  • During her visit, Yellen will also meet with South Africa's top financial officials, which will include talks with Finance Minister Enoch Godoingwana on just energy transition and solutions to load-shedding. The deepening energy crisis has had a serious impact on local businesses and consumers, inspiring multiple groups to take legal action against the government. Outgoing Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter told lawmakers yesterday that the power utility could return 1,862MW to the grid by end-March, which would be equivalent to two stages of load-shedding.
  • Otherwise, all eyes are on the SARB's monetary policy decision this week (click here to see our preview). The central bank is expected to continue tightening monetary conditions, albeit by a slower pace.

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