Investors are holding back on investing in energy-intensive projects in South Africa as the country’s power crisis undermines business continuity and hurts economic growth.

“There are large investments, which are energy-intensive where the investors are cautious because they need to see that we are able to get the investment requirements in place,” Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel said at an event on Thursday. “So, they’re anticipating that we need to be able over the next two to three years to resolve the energy crisis.”