South Africa has made investment, especially investment in infrastructure, a key priority as it desperately seeks to reignite growth and spur employment creation through the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan. It is one thing prioritising investment, but quite another making it happen, particularly given global and domestic headwinds. Globally, the ongoing pandemic, rising inflation, an intensifying climate crisis and a growing number of conflicts, epitomised by, but definitely not limited to, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are all undermining the allocation of capital to developing economies. Domestically, the microeconomic reforms that are viewed as so crucial to unblocking investment in energy, logistics and digital infrastructure are either progressing too slowly or experiencing growing pains. On all these fronts, South Africa is currently lacking, which is why partnerships are now so crucial between government and business. To lay the foundations for far higher levels of economic growth, government needs to enter into a true collaboration with the private sector and civil society to realise infrastructure delivery. In such an environment, government should use its policy muscle to leverage those fixed investment areas, such as green energy, which will have the biggest economic-, employment- and climate-resiliency multipliers, while ensuring that the guardrails are in place to prevent corruption and abuse of dominance. It is a partnership that can begin with pockets of excellence, such as unlocking new distributed power generation by miners, before being progressively expanded to other crucial areas, including water, sanitation, roads, bridges, rail, housing, and broadband infrastructure. It is time to beat the backlog together.

The World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) states that green hydrogen has the potential to play a significant role in decarbonising the global economy and that platinum has a significant role to play in that economy. According to the WPIC, capacity targets for the generation of green hydrogen in the European Union and China will cumulatively require between 300 000 oz and 600 000 oz of additional platinum by 2030. The hydrogen fuel cell and green technology sectors are expected to significantly drive platinum demand, and with South Africa holding about 91% of the world’s platinum group metals (PGMs) reserves, the country stands to benefit from the rapidly growing global hydrogen economy. South Africa, with its world-leading solar and wind resources, and vast PGMs resources used in the electrolysers needed to produce green hydrogen, has the competitive advantage to produce and export green hydrogen. It must, however, move swiftly to exploit this advantage, which could be worth $2.50-trillion by 2050. Creamer Media’s ‘Platinum 2021/22: A market set for a deficit rather than a surplus’ report provides an overview of the platinum market in this context. The global focus of the report is on supply and demand, as well as the creation of a green economy revolving around green hydrogen, while the focus in South Africa shifts to platinum production, the country's role in green hydrogen production, the regulatory environment, electricity and labour relations challenges, as well as the main participants in the sector.

As the world increasingly turns towards reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and decarbonisation, the use of electric vehicles and stationary energy storage systems is expected to increase. The International Energy Agency estimates that nearly 10 000 GWh/y of batteries and other energy storage technologies will be required by 2040. As demand for batteries increases, so will demand for the metals and minerals that are needed to manufacture them; and with little or no inventory in the system and demand set to more than triple by 2025, buyers are seizing all they can. Meanwhile, battery metals producers are rushing to expand their operations and are evaluating new opportunities to keep pace with the surging demand for lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel, graphite, manganese, vanadium and some rare-earth metals. Creamer Media’s ‘Battery Metals 2021/22: Demand for battery metals surging’ report provides an overview of the battery metals market in this context. Globally, the focus of the report is on supply and demand and the creation of a sustainable battery value chain, while in Africa, the report’s focus shifts to some of the key mining projects under way.

South Africa had, in times past, by far the best transport infrastructure in Africa; however, declining road conditions, and freight and passenger rail, as well as port capacity shortages and inefficiencies, are now all proving to be a constraint on trade and economic growth. After contributing substantially to the country’s formative development, the rail sector has shown a downward trend for several decades, with a lack of adequate investment, poor management and theft and vandalism all impacting on performance. Meanwhile, the country’s major road corridors are, as a consequence, overly congested, and subjected to overloading, contributing to South Africa’s carbon emissions. The performance of its ports has also declined, compared with other ports on the continent and worldwide, with a recent World Bank analysis highlighting South Africa’s container ports as among the worst performers globally. Government plans to tackle the constraints are in the early stages. Creamer Media's ‘Road, Rail and Ports 2021/22: Towards more private-sector participation’ provides an overview of South Africa’s ongoing investment in road, rail and ports infrastructure, with a particular focus on the size and state of this infrastructure, and the funding and maintenance of these respective networks, as well as the challenges these sectors are facing.

After declining in 2019, global gold production was further negatively impacted on by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, with overall output estimated to have fallen by 5.20% to 108-million ounces. However, persisting high bullion prices are expected to push up output going forward. Market research company Fitch Solutions forecasts that global gold production will increase from 109-million ounces in 2021 to 141-million ounces by 2030, averaging a growth rate of 3.20% a year, compared with a 0.80% average growth rate in production from 2016 to 2020. The market research company contends in its 'Outlook for Global Gold Mining' report, published in June 2021, that, over the medium term, global mine production growth will remain strong, as high prices by historical standards encourage investment and output growth. Meanwhile, the lifting of lockdown restrictions and the release of pent-up demand for gold is likely to herald a period of robust demand in 2022, particularly on account of gold’s safe-haven status. Creamer Media’s ‘Gold 2021/22: A safe haven in a time of crisis’ report reviews the global and South African gold markets in this context. Globally, the focus of the report is on supply and demand, while in South Africa, the report shifts to a look at the performance of major and smaller companies in the industry, including the impact of labour relations, gold companies’ responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, and criminal activity in the sector.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of the telecommunications industry, as the world relied on connected services to keep economies operating during intermittent lockdowns and restrictions throughout 2020 and 2021. Connectivity has become as essential as electricity and water, and some industry proponents argue that connectivity should be a basic human right, as Covid-19-related restrictions reveal a digital divide in access to universal and affordable connectivity services. South Africa’s own telecommunications industry has proven a critical enabler of connectivity on an unprecedented scale: it kept businesses operating by enabling employees to work from home, connected families that were separated, enabled home-schooling for students and facilitated the continuity of daily life as people turned to their computers and smartphones to substitute their in-person activities online. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa believes that some of this newly developed reliance may continue in the “new normal” or at least until the emergence of a long-term solution, such as universally adopted vaccines, making ongoing access to reliable digital infrastructure for telework, telemedicine, food delivery and logistics, online and contactless payments, remote learning and entertainment all the more urgent. Creamer Media’s ‘Telecommunications 2021: A changing landscape’ report considers the evolution of South Africa’s telecommunications market, the companies operating in it, the new technologies they are adopting, as well as the challenges they are facing, such as spectrum and data costs, in this constantly evolving landscape.

Creamer Media's Energy Roundup is a monthly report providing a synopsis of energy-related news from South Africa. The November 2021 roundup covers activities in October 2021 and includes details of State-owned electricity utility Eskom’s reliability maintenance recovery programme; Eskom’s joint venture with coal miners Exxaro and Seriti Resources to develop renewable-energy projects; and the growing constraints on South Africa’s power grid, which could precipitate a crisis similar to the one experienced in 2008.

The diamond industry was already under pressure before 2020, and the situation was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which compelled the major miners to adopt a price-over-volume strategy and take steps to support the midstream segment. They reduced production by 20% and allowed customers to postpone purchases, and when demand recovered in the third quarter of 2020, the major miners lowered rough diamond prices by 10%. Consumer demand received a further boost from strong holiday jewellery sales in December 2020, and 2021 has thus far proved to be a success for all segments of the diamond value chain, with miners achieving record sales, midstream margins growing amid high prices and jewellery sales exceeding previous forecasts. Creamer Media’s ‘Diamonds 2021: Agility in the face of crisis’ report provides an overview of the world diamond market amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The report highlights rough diamond production, supply and demand, imports and exports, the production of synthetic diamonds, as well as the responsible sourcing of diamonds. The report has a specific emphasis on diamond mining activities in South Africa over the past 12 months, and provides updates on the country’s major and midtier diamond producers, junior diamond mining companies, explorers and developers.

The Paris Agreement, which is a legally binding international treaty on climate change, outlines ambitious goals of limiting global warming to below 2 °C above preindustrial era levels while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 °C by reducing carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Some countries have been raising their commitments as intended, with ambitious objectives set by the European Union (EU), the UK and Japan, besides others. Nonetheless, the world is likely on course to warm by about 2.5 °C by the end of the century, according to research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie. Many countries are not on track for net zero by 2050 and governments still have much work to do to clarify their strategies for reaching their respective objectives. South Africa’s Presidential Climate Change Coordinating Commission has published recommendations for a carbon-reduction commitment and has confirmed a long-term target for achieving net-zero carbon emissions by this date. Yet, South Africa is unlikely to reach the net-zero emissions target by 2050. Its economy – and energy system – is one of the most coal-dependent in the world and government’s plans still allow for a significant amount of coal in the future power mix. This is despite the country’s complementary wind and solar resources being among the best renewable-energy resources in the world, available on vast amounts tracts of unused land. Creamer Media’s ‘COP26: Advancing South Africa’s just energy transition’ considers the challenges that the world and, in particular, South Africa are facing with regard to reaching their climate-change mitigation goals. The report considers South Africa’s Nationally Determined Contribution; the country’s reliance on coal and the its converse potential it has as a preferred global destination for foreign and domestic decarbonisation investment while ensuring a just transition; South Africa’s renewables capability; and the consequences of delaying climate action.

Creamer Media's Energy Roundup is a monthly report providing a synopsis of energy-related news from South Africa. The October 2021 roundup covers activities in September 2021 and includes details of State-owned power utility Eskom’s Renewable Energy Tariff pilot programme to assist businesses that have corporate renewable-energy commitments; the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s rejection of Eskom’s fifth multiyear price determination application for the three financial years from 2022/23 to 2024/25; and local renewable-energy supplier Suntech Solar Power South Africa’s launch of proceedings in the High Court seeking to interdict and set aside the “selective and unlawful” exemptions granted by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition in respect of the current round of the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.