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# South Africa's power cuts are expected to inflict a $13 billion loss on the economy
- URL: https://www.techloy.com/power-cuts-in-south-africa-expected-to-inflict-13-billion-loss-on-economy/
- Published: 2023-03-08T16:04:15.000Z
- Updated: 2023-03-08T16:04:15.000Z
- Author: Acquah Nana Yeboah
- Tags: / News, Tech in South Africa, Economy

South Africa's ongoing power crisis is costing the country $51 million a day, with a predicted total economic loss of $12.7 billion for 2023, according to the country's central bank.

Eskom, the state-owned power monopoly, has been blamed for the crisis and its inability to upgrade its coal-based plants to protect the national grid from collapse.

The crisis has led to devastating power blackouts of between six to 12 hours a day, which have affected businesses across all sectors, causing losses in revenue. The bank's governor, Lesetja Kganyago, said that without power outages, South Africa's GDP growth could have been at 2.3% this year. The country's economic growth is expected to be at [0.3% this year, down from 1.1%](https://www.news24.com/citypress/business/south-africa-will-only-see-growth-of-03-this-year-says-sarb-20230126) in 2022.

To help alleviate the challenges, the government has pledged to pay half of Eskom's debt, totalling $14 billion, to bail it out of the financial crisis.

Eskom's efforts to address the crisis have also been hampered by corruption, with outgoing CEO André de Ruyter surviving an [alleged poisoning attempt](https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/leaders/south-africas-eskom-ceo-survives-alleged-poisoning-attempt/me17w80) when attempting to purge corrupt managers. The ongoing power crisis has raised the likelihood of a recession in South Africa to 45% this year.