Energy and economic development: Challenges for South Africa

Energy provision is crucial to overall development. The South African economy uses a large amount of energy, is highly energy-intensive, and heavily dominated by the extraction of raw materials and primary processing. As the demand for energy grows, the energy sector is expected to play a central role in fuelling the country’s economic growth and development. Issues such as social equity and economic efficiency within the context of sustainable development, and the choice of appropriate policy instruments to minimise negative impacts of externalities associated with energy production and consumption, become crucial. Then there are also issues of economic management. If societies well-being is to improve, these challenges as well as their concomitant trade-offs have to be addressed