The BRICS Summit in South Africa's Johannesburg will open the door to financing for the country's energy projects and enhancing its infrastructure, Barba Gaoganediwe, the Gauteng province Tourism Authority's spokesperson, told Sputnik Africa.
In order to sponsor power initiatives, the official noted, South Africa could tap into the BRICS Bank's fund.
"With South Africa being host to this big summit, this puts to the fore some of the action plans and the funding areas where we need to beef up our infrastructure, tap into the facility that is available from the BRICS Bank, among others, to fund energy recapitalization projects or alternative energy projects, hydropower, green energy and some heavy industry," Gaoganediwe said.
The spokesperson added that during the summit, South Africa could benefit from getting the experience and skills in dealing with energy challenges from other members of the group.
He argued that load shedding in South Africa is still a concern, but as the nation emerges from the winter period, it will see improved energy security due to lower demand for electricity and "additional power to the grid that comes from the global energies."
Speaking about the structure of the energy industry in modern South Africa, Gaoganediwe noted that the government is bringing the energy mix to the forefront.
"An energy mix has always been the country's position and posture. We are aggregating what do we have for better impact, but equally for transformation so that we can get the new players into the party. We need new players into our energy mix, we need to transform," the official noted.
More broadly, Barba Gaoganediwe commented on the BRICS Summit, saying that it emphasizes the promotion of South-South relations, underpinned by the joint desire for a just world order.
That fair order, according to the official, includes resolving water and energy security issues, among others.
"A just world order means a world order or a world situation where there is energy security, there is water security, there is peace, a world order where there is not the haves and the have nots," the spokesperson explained. "This is a time for an alternative voice, a voice that represent billions and billions of people that traditionally have been excluded."
The BRICS summit will be held in Johannesburg on August 22-24. The leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa will be present there.
Russia will be represented by the Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he would participate in the summit via videoconference.