South Africa Secures $1 Billion BRICS-Backed Loan to Upgrade Infrastructure in Major Cities
South Africa has received approval for a loan of up to $1 billion from the New Development Bank to improve deteriorating infrastructure across its eight metropolitan municipalities.
The New Development Bank was established by the original BRICS members—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—to finance infrastructure and sustainable-development projects in emerging economies.
The new programme will channel funding into water supply, sanitation, electricity distribution and solid-waste management in Buffalo City, Cape Town, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, Johannesburg, Mangaung, Nelson Mandela Bay and Tshwane.
These metropolitan areas contain a large proportion of South Africa’s population and account for more than two-thirds of its economic activity. However, ageing facilities, rapid urbanisation and years of inadequate maintenance have weakened the quality of essential services in several cities.
Water interruptions, electricity-distribution problems and unreliable waste services have increasingly affected households and businesses. The planned investment is expected to help municipalities replace damaged infrastructure, expand capacity and create a more reliable environment for economic activity.
The financing complements reforms introduced by South Africa’s National Treasury to strengthen the performance of municipal trading services. Those reforms are supported by R54 billion in performance-based grants and are intended to encourage cities to protect revenues collected from services and reinvest them in infrastructure.
Read more: https://www.techinafrica.com/south-africa-secures-1-billion-brics-backed-loan-to-upgrade-infrastructure-in-major-cities/
