Week old article, but I decided to post it because I only just saw the post on arr south africa, where it prompted a lot of angry comments (as one might expect), but it’s also pretty emblematic of the power grid turn around in South Africa. This push is being led by Eskom Chair Mteto Nyati, who’s gained a lot of credibility with me for helping spearhead the turnaround (great interview about that [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0rF4ZfWm4w)), so I tend to trust that he knows what he’s doing and won’t be taking on demand that could jeopardise the hard-won stability of the grid.
It is worth noting that not all of the turnaround is due to more competent management at Eskom; a lot of it is also due to reduced demand on Eskom generation thanks to the advent of so-called independent power producers (IPPs), whom President Ramaphosa has allowed into the market, breaking Eskom’s generation monopoly. There is also a lot of rooftop solar in the mix that has reduced demand somewhat. Regardless, for much of South Africa, load shedding is now a thing of the past. It’s also worth noting that the state is in the process of ‘unbundling’ Eskom into separate generation and transmission companies in preparation for inviting in further private competition, something the Eskom board [opposes](https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/663008-mteto-nyati-is-right-about-eskoms-overhaul.html) and much of the South African political spectrum opposes (spectre of privatization, etc.).
Despite my misgivings about AI, South Africa needs every dollar of FDI it can get, and this would be a huge vote of confidence by foreign capital in the grid in the wake of the load shedding crisis. So I guess what I’m saying to American neolibs is: it is YOUR responsibility as a lover of the global poor to block as many data centre developments in the US as possible so they help boost global South economies instead.
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[Archive link for the global poor](https://archive.is/2LcMK)
Week old article, but I decided to post it because I only just saw the post on arr south africa, where it prompted a lot of angry comments (as one might expect), but it’s also pretty emblematic of the power grid turn around in South Africa. This push is being led by Eskom Chair Mteto Nyati, who’s gained a lot of credibility with me for helping spearhead the turnaround (great interview about that [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0rF4ZfWm4w)), so I tend to trust that he knows what he’s doing and won’t be taking on demand that could jeopardise the hard-won stability of the grid.
It is worth noting that not all of the turnaround is due to more competent management at Eskom; a lot of it is also due to reduced demand on Eskom generation thanks to the advent of so-called independent power producers (IPPs), whom President Ramaphosa has allowed into the market, breaking Eskom’s generation monopoly. There is also a lot of rooftop solar in the mix that has reduced demand somewhat. Regardless, for much of South Africa, load shedding is now a thing of the past. It’s also worth noting that the state is in the process of ‘unbundling’ Eskom into separate generation and transmission companies in preparation for inviting in further private competition, something the Eskom board [opposes](https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/663008-mteto-nyati-is-right-about-eskoms-overhaul.html) and much of the South African political spectrum opposes (spectre of privatization, etc.).
Despite my misgivings about AI, South Africa needs every dollar of FDI it can get, and this would be a huge vote of confidence by foreign capital in the grid in the wake of the load shedding crisis. So I guess what I’m saying to American neolibs is: it is YOUR responsibility as a lover of the global poor to block as many data centre developments in the US as possible so they help boost global South economies instead.