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The government hopes to unlock R210 billion with the 28 infrastructure projects that have been prepared. Fake images.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa opened a panel discussion on boosting investment in South Africa’s infrastructure.
- The round table between private sector financiers, development finance institutions and the government will take place over two days and will discuss 28 projects that are projected to attract R210 billion in investments.
- The Government’s Infrastructure Fund of R100 billion will help prepare the project in hopes of turning it into attractive investment opportunities for the private sector.
About 28 of the 276 infrastructure projects that President Cyril Ramaphosa first unveiled in June were shown to private financiers on Tuesday as the government tries to boost infrastructure investment and create jobs.
According to Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Acting Executive Director of Infrastructure South Africa (ISA), the organization that was established in July to spearhead the country’s integrated strategic projects, the 28 projects are expected to attract more than R210 billion in investment.
The South African government has pledged to use part of its R100 billion Infrastructure Fund to bring the projects to a state where they are attractive to private investors.
“I can smell the money in this room, but I want to get to the point of feeling it,” Ramaphosa said, before telling pension funds and asset managers that private sector specialists have scrutinized all 28 projects and the government has eliminated them. taking the first losses when appropriate.
In total, the government has prioritized 62 of the 276 initial projects announced by the president in June, and expects these to unlock R1 trillion in investment. The 62 integrated strategic projects were published in July.
“It was evident during the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium process that not all projects were ready,” Ramaphosa said.
As project preparation can be a costly exercise, the government has put into operation the R100 billion Infrastructure Fund, which was due to be established and operational in 2024. The fund will finance the preparation of all priority projects, which According to the president, they must ensure they are completed “on time, on budget and on target.”
“Sometimes if you go around the country, you will find projects that have been stopped or abandoned because there was no proper planning. There were no proper preparations. You will see foundations spreading in various places, pipes just lying by the side of the road. Now, we want to avoid everything. that, “he said.
Catalytic projects
Ramokgopa said the 28 projects presented Tuesday were chosen for their multiplier effect and labor elasticity.
They include projects such as an aeroponics factory in the Free State, a space infrastructure center to help South Africa accelerate satellite development, the Port of Boegoebaai, the North Cape Railway and Infrastructure Development Project, and the Port of Ngqura. in the Eastern Cape. .
“For the first time in many years in the country, there is a project that is going to revive the North Cape economy, diversify it a bit to diversify it outside of mining,” Ramokgopa said.
He added that these projects will also ensure that additional projects are created in the future because of them.
“If we can be successful in this exercise, and I am more than confident that we will, we should be in a position to unlock R210 billion. Therefore, we are already one-fifth of that R1 billion target,” Ramokgopa said.
The government had already attracted R340bn in investor commitments during the sustainable infrastructure symposium held in June. Ramokgopa said the ISA has seen “a significant amount of goodwill” from the fraternity funding over the past few months by involving them in these infrastructure projects.
Development Minister Patricia De Lille said Tuesday that investment should reach 23% of GDP by 2024 and 15% of that should come from the private sector, while the public sector will contribute the remaining 8%.
