Africa Briefs

South Africa revive nuclear programme

South Africa is drawing up plans for a 2 500-megawatt nuclear programme to try to solve the country's power supply problem, the energy ministry announced Sunday.

"Given the long lead-time of building additional new nuclear capacity, upfront planning is necessary for security of energy supply to society into the future," said the ministry said in a statement.

The government had decided to seek information on a nuclear-build programme "at a pace and sale that the country can afford", said the ministry.

South Africa is the only country in Africa to have a civil nuclear programme, with two reactors at the Koeberg power plant, in service for more than 30 years. They produce 1 860 megawatts, or about 4% of the country's total energy.

The government last year dropped controversial plans to build eight nuclear power stations, deals that had been initiated by former president Jacob Zuma. – Nampa/AFP

Egypt to reopen airports

Egypt will reopen its airports on July 1 and begin welcoming to beach resorts tourists kept away by the coronavirus pandemic, the government announced Sunday.

Flights will resume "between Egypt and countries which have reopened their airspace", said aviation minister Mohamed Manar during a news conference in Cairo.

"We hope that business will resume," he said.

With international flights resuming, only three governorates famed for their beach resorts will be allowed to welcome tourists: the Red Sea, South Sinai and Marsa Matruh.

Other tourist sites including the pyramids at Giza, the Egyptian museum in Cairo and Luxor's Karnak temple will reopen progressively, Anani said. – Nampa/AFP

NGO warns of Mozambique 'climate bomb'

Friends of the Earth accused France yesterday of planting a "ticking climate bomb" in Mozambique, where French oil giant Total is developing a mega-project to exploit natural gas.

"For several years now, the entire arsenal of French economic diplomacy has been working to defend French interests in Mozambique," the NGO said, notably "a myriad of French companies in the fossil fuel industry and adjacent sectors".

The report, titled "A windfall for the industry, a curse for the country: France thrusts Mozambique into the gas trap", said US$60 billion will be invested in vast underwater reserves that were discovered off the country's northern coast in the early 2010s.

Estimated at 5 000 billion cubic metres, the discovery could transform one of the poorest countries on the planet into a leading exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

However, FOE charged, "French machinations are forcing yet another African country into dependency on fossil fuels ... in the name of the economic interests of French energy industrials and bankers." – Nampa/AFP

DRC's gold being smuggled out

Gold production in Democratic Republic of Congo continues to be systematically underreported while tonnes of the precious metal is smuggled into global supply chains through its eastern neighbours, a United Nations report has found.

The countries along Congo's eastern border have long been conduits for gold worth billions of dollars mined using rudimentary means by so-called "artisanal" miners.

Difficult to trace, trade in the precious metal has fuelled regional wars, funded rebel fighters and led to UN sanctions on traders involved in a bid to staunch the flow.

North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces reported official production of just over 60 kg of artisanal gold in 2019, yet exported a total of just over 73 kg, the UN Group of Experts on the Congo found in its annual report.

The group estimated that at least 1.1 tonnes of gold were smuggled out of Ituri province alone in 2019. That would have earned the government up to US$1.88 million in taxes had it been legally exported. – Nampa/Reuters