World Bank Approves $350m to Support South Africa’s Infrastructure Rollout

The World Bank has approved $350 million in funding to support South Africa’s infrastructure rollout aimed at unlocking private investment and improving key sectors such as electricity transmission.

The funding is to support the creation of a credit guarantee facility designed to attract private capital for infrastructure projects, including the expansion of the country’s power transmission grid.

According to the World Bank, the financing will come from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, one of the bank’s lending arms. 

The facility is expected to reduce investment risks and encourage participation from private investors, commercial lenders and institutional financiers.

The initiative is projected to mobilise about $10 billion in capital over the next decade for infrastructure development. 

Enoch Godongwana, South Africa’s Finance Minister, said the programme would help address gaps in the country’s power infrastructure.

He noted that the facility would “support massive investments in transmission infrastructure,” adding that it would be incorporated as a company in the coming months. 

The South African government has been seeking private sector funding to expand electricity transmission lines and improve transformer capacity as the country works to overcome more than a decade of power shortages that have affected economic activity.