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Johannesburg - Opening the national power grid could take broad-based black economic empowerment to a higher level, Nafcoc said on Tuesday.
The move was "highly commendable", said National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry spokesperson Tom Boya in a statement.
It would enable Nafcoc members - including small, micro and medium enterprises - to enter the power generation market.
"The sooner the department of public enterprises spells out a plan of action to assist aspirant IPPs with finance and other enabling mechanisms to enter the power generation arena, the better it will be for Nafcoc members, BBBEE and the country as a whole."
Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan announced on Monday that power generation would soon be accessible to independent power producers.
"We also hope that the co-generation agreements that will be signed in the next few months, as announced by the minister, will include people who were previously excluded from participating in meaningful economic activity in this country," Boya said.
Hogan said on Monday that Eskom could no longer be regarded as the country's single energy provider and would very shortly sign co-generation agreements with outside power producers. An IPP framework was virtually in place for Eskom to purchase power from people building generators and power stations, as well as from suppliers outside the country.
- Sapa
