South Africa’s dire electricity shortage may be rooted in disparate factors from weather to political upheaval, but few would dispute that the country’s economic health depends on a solution.

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Jacob Maroga, Eskom chief executive, on South Africa’s power crisis

Executives at Eskom, the state-owned power utility, presented their most detailed recovery plan to date during a tour of Europe’s financial capitals that ended last week. Talking to banks, credit rating agencies, and South Africa-invested companies, they sought to soothe worries over the power crisis and raise portions of the R350bn ($48bn, €31bn, £24bn) needed to finance a new fleet of power plants. Topping Eskom’s list of good news was the South African energy regulator’s decision in June to raise the price of electricity by 27 per cent this year, followed by rises of between 20 and 25 per cent for the next three years.