South Africa
Eskom’s De Ruyter to speak at Mining Indaba 2023─── 08:14 Fri, 09 Dec 2022
Eskom CEO André de Ruyter will be one of the headline speakers at the world's largest mining event, Investing in African Mining Indaba, in Cape Town in February next year.
The Mining Indaba organisers said in a statement they are pleased to announce that André de Ruyter, CEO of Eskom, has agreed to speak at the event for the first time, since "power supply security and availability are major concerns for the South African economy".
Since joining Eskom in 2020, De Ruyter has had to contend with significant obstacles, chief among them the power generation capacity. He is expected to update the mining community on the utility’s proposed approach to the transition to green energy.
As the country’s coal-fired power stations age and are slowly decommissioned, Eskom has had to juggle growing demand with generation capacity. De Ruyter, who told COP27 that it is cheaper to move to green energy than build more coalfired plants, is working with the South African Department of Forestry and Fisheries and Environmental Affairs to plan for the utility’s energy transition.
De Ruyter is expected to update the mining community on the utility’s proposed approach to this transition, as well as Eskom’s plans to ensure that South Africa has the power it needs to participate meaningfully on a global level.
The transition to greener energy is a global priority and as governments and companies increasingly turn to more sustainable and renewable power, the focus is on Africa as a core source of critical minerals like copper, nickel and cobalt. African mining has the challenge of providing raw materials to this rapidly growing market while ensuring that the continent can manage its own energy transition.
Addressing the 2023 theme of "Unlocking the future of African mining", next year’s speakers will consider the challenges and opportunities facing the continent’s mining industry as it seeks ways to bolster its economic power amid the global rush to secure supply for the transition to greener energies.
Attendees will hear from global thought leaders what they are doing to address price volatility, geopolitical risks, mineral and energy security and the path to net zero – which are all key to unlocking investment on the continent.
