Creating a biofuel policy for South Africa could help the sector grow tremendously, but the Southern African Biofuels Association said that the country would not be able to build its own biofuels industry unless the government spoke with industry officials to make it part of South Africa’s renewable strategy.
Andrew Makenete, President of the Southern African Biofuels Association said delays by the government in finalizing its biofuels policy have hindered the industry. “You can’t get the minister to come to your conference, so how do you get the minister to write the legislation?”
Another problem facing the biofuel sector in the country is PetroSA’s planned Coega oil refinery that is expected to produce 400,000 bpd to come online in 2014. "Coega will produce more fuel than the Southern African region requires [and] the amount of fuel coming out will squash any biofuels development," said Kevin Baart, a consultant for Deloitte.