UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has announced an infrastructure partnership with the South African government aimed at boosting investment in Africa’s largest economy, according to Engineering News on Friday, July 18.
The agreement — unveiled in Durban, South Africa’s main port city, on the sidelines of a G20 meeting — aims to accelerate the delivery of major infrastructure projects in the country, which has been grappling with a backlog that is hindering economic growth.
South Africa’s economy has grown by less than 1% annually, on average, for more than a decade.
As part of the partnership, Reeves stated that the UK will provide technical expertise to help South Africa prepare a pipeline of investment-ready projects. She referenced a similar UK program with Peru as a model for this collaboration.
“British expertise will be used to remove these barriers to construction, fast-tracking a number of projects that UK firms are well positioned to bid for,” the UK Treasury said in a statement on Thursday (July 17), adding that this “will support growth and development in South Africa and also help Britain achieve better returns on its investments in the country.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has estimated that 4.8 trillion rand (USD 268.6 billion) will be needed in public and private infrastructure investment by 2030 to meet national development goals. The South African Treasury has allocated 1 trillion rand (USD 55.9 billion) for public infrastructure over the next three years.
The country’s infrastructure deficit ranges from inadequate water treatment and supply facilities to the need for investment in power transmission lines and the revitalization of degraded urban centers in major metropolitan areas such as Durban and Johannesburg.
South African Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, emphasized that his department is seeking to attract more private financing for urban projects. He lamented that many municipalities end up returning infrastructure funds to the National Treasury due to a lack of technical expertise to implement projects.
“By injecting technical knowledge and implementation support into stalled projects,” the minister said, “the department aims to utilize abandoned buildings and vacant state-owned land to drive economic growth and create jobs.”
With bilateral trade reaching USD 7.7 billion, the UK is South Africa’s seventh-largest trading partner and one of its top investors. The UK is also a part of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with South Africa and other wealthy nations. Under this agreement, USD 8.3 billion in climate financing could be directed to South Africa.
Source: DE
