An Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) developed by SRK Consulting (South Africa) for the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) is being rolled out among Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries states to help accelerate priority electricity projects.
The framework, commissioned by the SAPP in 2016, will facilitate the screening of key power projects in line with lenders’ requirements – in turn speeding up their implementation across the sub-continent. A key obstacle to energy access in southern Africa is the quality of the existing power grids, which limit the ability of new power generation to be harnessed and distributed. The SAPP – which supplies electricity to consumers in 16 SAPP utilities and independent power producers (IPPs) – is busy improving these grids.
Acknowledged: African Mining Market and www.africanminingmarket.com
