
South African power crisis continues
South African homes, offices and businesses have endured a week of daily power cuts.
South African homes, offices and businesses have endured a week of daily power cuts, designed to prevent a total collapse of the overstretched electricity grid. The use of scheduled blackouts, or load shedding, is not new in the country - but the latest round has been the most disruptive yet, sparking a public outcry. As the state-owned power utility, Eskom, battles to meet demand, it has warned that it could run out of money by April, defaulting on its vast debt. Xavier Prevost, a senior analyst at XMP in Pretoria, explains why Eskom is struggling to keep the lights on.
After that, independent economist Michael Hughes joins to discuss what the Eskom crisis could mean for the wider South African economy.
Also in the show, British regional airline Flybmi has cancelled all its flights and filed for administration. Sally Gethin is an aviation expert and runs Gethin’s Inflight News, and takes a look at the circumstances around Flybmi, as well as Norwegian Air's relentless expansion and the consortium looking to take over Alitalia.
A Texas-based businessman is hoping to build a $1.5bn port in the small coastal town of Susah in Libya. Both the rival governments in Libya agree on the need for the country to develop new infrastructure, but it's unclear whether investors will feel comfortable putting their money into a project in such a volatile region.
And finally, Professor Paul Collier at Oxford University has a new book out, called The Future of Capitalism. He explains his view on how rich cities could be taxed higher to help those struggling.
(Picture: Power Lines Feed Electricity To the National Grid From the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station. Melkbosstrand, North of Cape Town South Africa. Picture Credit: Education Images/UIG via Getty Images)
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- Mon 18 Feb 201901:06GMTBBC World Service