South Africa’s government is in talks with lenders to fund the bulk of a credit-guarantee vehicle it plans to establish in July 2026 to support investment in infrastructure by private companies, the nation’s deputy finance minister said.
About R10 billion ($569 million) is required to fund the initiative, of which the government will contribute R2 billion in equity, David Masondo said at a conference in the capital, Pretoria, on Thursday. The authorities are in talks with lenders for the remainder of the funds, he said.
The facility, which will serve as a form of private insurance, will initially be used for energy-transmission projects before expanding to support investments in water and other infrastructure, he said.
Separately, the government is also looking for investors to help build 1 164 kilometers (723 miles) of transmission lines as part of a bigger project that will see the rollout of 14 218 kilometers of power lines over the next decade at a cost of about R500 billion. The lines will help connect renewable energy projects to the grid in the country, where there’s insufficient transmission capacity.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously estimated that South Africa needs as much as 1.6 trillion rand from the public sector and a further R3.2 trillion from the private sector by 2030 for infrastructure investment, after years of underinvestment.
