Politics
Where a $5 Billion Green Incentive Runs Into Politics of Coal
South Africa’s transition to clean energy finds itself tangled up by nation’s reliance on the black rock.
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The world’s richest countries are courting South Africa as a model of how to transition to a more climate-friendly future from a dependency on coal.
While $5 billion of cheap loans and grants are on offer as a first step, transforming Africa’s most industrialized economy demands more than cash. It needs to win over power brokers like Gwede Mantashe, a former coal unionist who is now energy minister and chairman of the ruling African National Congress, to weaken the nation’s reliance on the black rock.