{"id":103056,"date":"2026-01-18T09:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T07:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=103056"},"modified":"2026-01-18T09:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T07:38:16","slug":"asri-report-geopolitics-energy-reforms-and-south-africas-fragile-economic-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/asri-report-geopolitics-energy-reforms-and-south-africas-fragile-economic-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"ASRI Report | Geopolitics, Energy Reforms and South Africa\u2019s Fragile Economic Recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em>
\n3-minute read<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf7 Global tensions, fuel prices and energy reforms continue to shape South Africa\u2019s economic outlook.<\/p><\/div>\n

For this week\u2019s ASRI Report<\/a>,<\/em> attention turned to whether South Africa\u2019s long-standing structural challenges, particularly electricity and logistics are finally easing, and what that could mean for the year ahead amid escalating global instability.<\/p>\n

Political Economist Rashad Amra noted that load shedding, once a defining feature of daily life, appears to have stabilised in a way few South Africans would have imagined even two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of us wouldn\u2019t be able to pinpoint the exact month load shedding last happened. It certainly wasn\u2019t last week, and probably not even in the last six months,\u201d Amra said.<\/p>\n

He attributed this relative stability to a combination of leadership changes and structural interventions, including the appointment of a new Minister of Energy, a reconstituted Eskom board, and the growing contribution of independent power producers, particularly in renewable energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor whatever reason, despite repeated efforts over many years, this time it seems to have yielded some results,\u201d he said, describing the stabilisation of electricity supply as an \u201cincredible achievement\u201d in a crisis that began as far back as 2008.<\/p>\n

Beyond energy, Amra highlighted early signs of improvement in South Africa\u2019s logistics sector. Expansion at the Durban port, reduced backlogs at key terminals, and Transnet\u2019s move to involve private operators on national rail lines were cited as important steps forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of putting everything on the N3, you can move goods by rail between Durban and Gauteng,\u201d he said, adding that while reforms are far from complete, they make business \u201ca bit easier and a bit cheaper\u201d.<\/p>\n

These developments, Amra argued, could help improve investor confidence and ultimately benefit ordinary South Africans through improved service delivery and job creation.<\/p>\n

However, optimism remains cautious. Amra warned that global geopolitics continues to cast a long shadow over any local progress. From tensions involving Iran and Venezuela to the ongoing devastation in Gaza, the West Bank and Sudan, international instability remains a major risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeopolitics will drive a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cThings can be doing well, but uncertainty always throws some shade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Domestically, upcoming local government elections in 2026 also pose potential risks, with Amra pointing to increasingly polarised and extreme political rhetoric at municipal level.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there\u2019s been political stability nationally, local politics will play a big role in determining economic outcomes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite these uncertainties, Amra expressed guarded hope for the year ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like it may be better than last year and the year before, inshallah,\u201d he said, stressing that sustained reform and global restraint would be key to turning early gains into lasting recovery.<\/p>\n

As South Africa navigates fragile improvements at home and deepening instability abroad, the coming year will test whether economic resilience can withstand a turbulent global landscape.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full ASRI Report<\/em><\/a> on Sabahul Muslim<\/em> with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat and Rashad Amra.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read For this week\u2019s ASRI Report, attention turned to whether South Africa\u2019s long-standing structural challenges, particularly electricity and logistics are finally easing, and what that could mean for the year ahead amid escalating global instability. Political Economist Rashad Amra noted that load shedding, once a defining feature of daily life, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":103057,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ASRI-Report-1.jpeg?fit=1600%2C1600&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qOc","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-05 03:45:56","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}