Macpherson welcomes R53bn in infrastructure deals

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson has welcomed four major infrastructure investment opportunities presented directly to local and international development finance institutions and multilateral development banks, according to a statement from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

The presentation took place at Infrastructure South Africa's Development Partners Forum Deal Pitching Session, chaired by Macpherson in Gauteng recently.

The four projects span housing, aviation, bulk water and energy infrastructure, and collectively require more than R53 billion in debt finance.

The Development Partners Forum was established by Infrastructure South Africa to connect infrastructure project sponsors with institutions able to provide financing, technical expertise, risk-sharing instruments and advisory support.

Friday's session was designed to go beyond general discussion, giving financiers the chance to interrogate live projects, assess investment readiness and identify concrete opportunities for financing and partnership.

The support extends to private sector-led projects too, and is aligned with the national goal of lifting gross fixed capital formation to 30% of GDP, with private investment expected to contribute 20 percentage points toward that target.

“Friday's session demonstrated exactly what Infrastructure South Africa should be doing: taking credible infrastructure projects and putting them directly in the room with institutions that have the ability to finance and support them,” Macpherson said.

“More than R53 billion in debt finance requirements were presented to development partners across just four major infrastructure opportunities.”

“These are not abstract projects on a wish list,” he added. “They represent the kind of infrastructure South Africa needs to grow the economy, strengthen basic services, unlock private investment and create employment. This is the type of investment we need to mobilise if we are going to turn South Africa into a construction site.”

Macpherson said the forum forms part of broader work under way at Infrastructure South Africa to build a stronger pipeline of bankable, investment-ready infrastructure projects.

The agency is already providing project-preparation support to more than 26 infrastructure projects with an estimated capital value of R148 billion, of which 15 have completed their preparatory work.

Following Friday's session, Infrastructure South Africa will facilitate targeted follow-up engagements between interested development partners and project sponsors, to support transaction structuring, explore financing participation, address risk-allocation requirements and agree on practical next steps toward implementation.

“Government cannot finance South Africa's infrastructure ambitions through the fiscus alone,” Macpherson said.

“We need to mobilise development finance and private capital alongside public investment, and we need to make it easier for investors to find properly prepared projects that they can actually finance.

“The measure of success for these engagements will not be how many presentations we hold, but how many projects ultimately reach financial close and move onto construction sites. We want to convert pipelines into projects, projects into investment, and investment into shovels in the ground and cranes in the sky across South Africa.”

Macpherson said the session underscored the increasingly important role Infrastructure South Africa is playing in connecting credible, prepared infrastructure projects with investors and financiers, helping move them toward financial close and construction.