By Enyichukwu Enemanna
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa is to miss the 2023 World Economic Forum (WEF) taking place in Davos, Switzerland from Jan. 16 — 20 as power cuts cripple his country’s economy, his spokesman announced on Sunday.
WEF is an annual meeting where global elite of business leaders, politicians and economists make bold predictions and try to set the agenda for the year ahead. But the South African President said he will concentrate on solving the power needs confronting his country as he skips the 2023 meeting.
Energy crisis has worsened since Tuesday when struggling state utility Eskom said it would implement its worst-ever outages until further notice.
“Currently the President is convening a meeting with leaders of political parties represented in parliament, NECCOM (National Energy Crisis Committee) and the Eskom board,” Vincent Magwenya, presidential spokesman said.
He added that further briefing sessions with key stakeholders will take place during this coming week.
Shortages in power are a major public concern with the governing African National Congress (ANC) struggling to break the ice on economic growth in Africa’s most industrialised nation.
The troubled utility supplies the vast majority of South Africa’s electricity, relying mainly on an ageing fleet of coal-fired power stations that are unreliable and prone to faults.
