MBABANE– The Standard Bank Green Energy Indaba has officially kicked off today.
The blue bank has thrown its hat in the ring in the fight for energy security, especially sustainable energy investments. This was revealed by Standard Bank CEO Mvuselelo Fakudze, when speaking at the Green Energy Indaba today. He said that the bank wants to make it easier to finance green energy projects, to play its part in the development of sustainable energy for the call country.
Fakudze’s sentiments were strongly supported by Acting Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jabulani Mabuza.
“Government seeks to leverage on private sector participation as it helps alleviate the pressure on Government, whilst at the same time enabling local companies, be they in engineering, construction, operations and maintenance, or financial services companies, to play a role in the country’s energy sector,” said the Minister.
He noted that the Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) is in the process of developing a 33 MegaWatts expansion at Maguga, as lower Maguga hydro power plant.
The Minister also urged the stakeholders to work towards an improved ratio of energy production in the country to ensure energy security. He was speaking in reference to the EEC report which details that Eswatini currently purchases 54% of its electricity from South Africa, 10% from Mozambique, 6% from Ubombo Sugar, and EEC produces 24%, where the rest is sourced from the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).
The Minister urged the stakeholders to work together to ensure that the country can get to a place where it produces most of the electricity used in the country, without relying on foreign suppliers.
