South African President to Skip Davos Forum Amid Energy Crisis
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks during a joint media briefing with Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. 
InternationalIndiaAfricaMOSCOW (Sputnik) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will not attend this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos due to the urgency to step up efforts to combat energy crisis at home, his spokesperson said. “Due to the ongoing energy crisis, President @CyrilRamaphosa has cancelled his working visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos,” Vincent Magwenya tweeted on Sunday. Ramaphosa is expected to meet with leaders of major political parties as well as with the National Energy Crisis Committee and the board of the state-run energy company Eskom, Africa’s largest power utility. Eskom introduced energy rationing in November to reduce power consumption after seeing energy prices spike amid the West’s standoff with Russia over Ukraine. Energy supply will be on the agenda of the Davos summit, hosted by Switzerland from January 16-20.The theme of the forthcoming meeting of the Davos Forum is “Cooperation in a Fragmented World.” The Forum’s agenda is dedicated to public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing issues, and encourages world leaders to work together on energy, climate and trade issues.
