INDUSTRY WATCH
South Africa’ s migration to green energy production
South African businesses face several challenges related to the supply of energy that powers their operations. Electricity prices have significantly increased over the past three decades, compared with inflation over the same period. This challenge, coupled with energy uncertainty remains a critical concern for South African businesses. Although loadshedding has lessened as from Q2 2024, there is no guarantee that it will not return.
Even in the continued absence of loadshedding, local power outages remain common especially in remote, rural, and poorer communities. There is also a persistent chance of normal interruptions to grid supply, caused by extreme weather, infrastructural damage, theft, and other factors.
Kyle Durham, Sustainability Head, FNB Commercial
Hamish White, CEO and Founder, Mobilise
South Africa’ s power quality is deteriorating. Voltage, frequency and waveform variations, power surges, brownouts and electrical line noise can damage connected equipment and decrease its longevity, leading to system inefficiencies or shutdowns. This power quality varies widely across South Africa. This has resulted in many businesses, such as agricultural operations, experiencing the lowest quality power.
Because electricity in South Africa is typically generated through a mixture of coal and diesel, this significantly contributes to nearly half of the country’ s greenhouse gas emissions. The contribution of electricity to the emissions profile of South African businesses is increasingly being monitored by regulators and international companies.
Carbon-intensive sources of power can mean the difference between a contract or tender being refused and initiatives such as the European Union’ s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. This means that punitive levies could potentially be applied to South African exports that use this power as an input.
South Africa could significantly reduce its carbon footprint, lower energy costs, and improve the reliability of energy supply by adopting renewable energy.
Many expected Apple to make a move with an eSIMonly iPhone 16, after doing so in the US with the 14 model back in 2022. This, however, did not happen. While network operators are talking more about eSIM to their customers, especially in the context of digitalfirst propositions, more needs to be done to make eSIM-only devices viable worldwide.
Resistance from traditional players, a lack of consumer awareness, regulatory hurdles and cost considerations continue to present challenges in eSIM’ s mass uptake. However, that does not mean we should not remain optimistic.
2025 could well be the year that eSIM breaks into mainstream. As more devices, beyond smartphones, integrate eSIM capabilities, from wearables to IoT solutions, the technology is poised to redefine connectivity for both consumers and industries.
eSIM adoption is more about ecosystem readiness than technological readiness. Until operators harmonise efforts globally and effectively communicate benefits to consumers, eSIM will remain a niche feature. The potential is clear, and the momentum is building but the industry needs better alignment.
2024 was a year of incremental advances rather than breakthroughs. The 5G myth was finally busted and we saw clear evidence that data growth rates are now slowing. For 2025, the telecom sector must focus on converting its potential into tangible, scalable solutions that resonate with both enterprises and consumers. p
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