World Economy

'Challenging time' for South Africa's economy: FinMin

Reporting by Steve Sedgwick, writing by Gemma Acton
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South Africa is taking steps to address an electricity crisis in what is a challenging time for the economy, the country's Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene told CNBC on Saturday.

Eskom, the state firm responsible for supplying around 95 percent of electricity in South Africa, is struggling to provide sufficient power following decades of under investment and delays in new plant completion. South Africans have been subject to around 100 days of planned power outages during 2015.

Table Mountain, Cape Town
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The power problem is just one of many facing Africa's most-industrialized economy which recently reported a 1.3 percent contraction in second quarter 2015 gross domestic product (GDP) GDP growth.

Nene told CNBC on the sidelines of the G20 conference in Turkey that the government is "getting to the point where we are addressing the problem to our satisfaction now."

South Africa's finance minister said key challenges facing the country included agricultural industry affected by drought, slow demand in trade partners and falling commodity prices.

With regards to wobbles in the broader global economy amid spillover effects from China's slowdown and commodity price weakness, Nene said the situation was "something we have to live with" given the "interconnectedness of our economies."

He was more sanguine on the recent market volatility, saying it was "a correction of a situation that has been a long time coming."

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