Eskom welcomes the leaders and participants that are here in Cape Town
for the 2011 Africa WEF Summit. The 2011 WEF comes after the successful
hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on African soil.
Another significant milestone awaits us in November 2011, when the 17th UNFCCC
Conference of the Parties (COP 17) comes to Africa.
Eskom is the 10th largest electricity in the world by generation capacity and the
largest on the African continent. We are therefore aware, very aware of the
responsibility we have to contribute to environment, our lessons to trade.
As Africans living and working on the African continent, we have experienced
a knowledge of the infrastructure and challenges facing the continent.
We are also aware of the wonderful opportunities and see ourselves as
a catalyst for the integration of Southern Africa.
The proverbiality that "Charity begins at home" is a guiding principle for us.
There are various studies ranging from World Bank reports to the McKinsey Global
Institute that corroborate that Africa is a significant market and economic
opportunity. At Eskom, we have chosen to initially
focus on Southern Africa between 2011 and 2017 so that we can contribute towards
making SADC an integrated market of 250 to 300 million people.
Additionally, Eskom can unlock the potential of an integrated electricity
system within the region by participating and driving strategic transmission
projects. This will further enable us to leverage
renewable energy sources within the region, such as hydro, wind, solar,
as well as natural gas resources. With regards to risk mitigation, we need
to reflect on how we can harness the notion of nation states through the
economic blocs on the continent to bring about a climate of strong constitutional
democracies, democracies that will transcend tribe and creed and create
robust and strong regulatory institutions. The result: sustainable markets
and economies because these thrive when there is certainty about the rules of play.
We further need to accelerate shared growth and development through shared
and integrated policies on how to drive trade and economic growth, such as,
for instance, the SADC Customs Union. It is paramount that we create an enabling
environment for a strong and sustainable private sector across the continent.
Equally, we need to leverage partnerships across societal institutions, resulting in
the elimination of risk associated with lack of much needed buy-in and strategic
stakeholder alignment in the implementation and sustainability of
programs. Institutions of higher learning can also
make a significant contribution by supporting the various economic blocs
through knowledge management; for example, having a common repository of
data and best practice. SADC economies are largely mineral
resources-based and as such can learn from each other, especially from the strides in
industrialization made by their neighbor, South Africa.
As leaders, we all have a huge responsibility to leave the organizations,
institutions, and companies that we lead in a better state than that in which we
found them. This in turn will result in creating
a better world than the one we live in. In the spirit of a better legacy for our
children and their children's children, we wish you all a successful 2011 Africa WEF
Summit. Thank you very much and welcome to South Africa.