Eskom Unbundling Gets Advisers and Firm Deadline
South Africa's Eskom grid unbundling process has been assigned advisers and given a firm timetable, marking a structural milestone in the reform of the continent's largest electricity utility. The deadline formalises a process that has been debated for years without a concrete schedule.
Eskom Unbundling: a deadline is the thing that's been missing all along
The political argument was settled in August when Ramaphosa signed the legislation. What was missing was a concrete schedule — and now there is one: 18 months to carve Eskom's transmission grid into a genuinely independent operator, with advisers being appointed through the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
A timetable sounds administrative. It isn't. Every prior reform effort died in the gap between policy agreement and actual execution. A hard deadline forces lenders, advisers and Eskom itself to move or be seen to be blocking.
The business confidence index still sits at 38 — deeply negative. That number is the market saying it will believe the reform when the lights stay on, not when the paperwork does. The 18-month clock is now the thing to watch.
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- The grid unbundling finally has a deadline · techcentral.co.za · T2