French President Emmanuel Macron and President Cyril Ramaphosa pictured during a bilateral meeting prior to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg last year.
Image: Facebook/GCIS
France is in talks to provide a €100 million (about R1.9 billion) loan to South Africa to help upgrade deteriorating city infrastructure, including water, electricity and waste services in major metros such as Johannesburg and Durban.
According to Bloomberg, the funding forms part of a broader programme aimed at improving municipal service delivery in urban centres facing persistent infrastructure breakdowns.
The Treasury had previously said it would seek extra support from global development finance institutions, including France’s Agence Française de Développement, to supplement World Bank funding.
IOL previously reported that South Africa has launched an ambitious reform programme aimed at restoring the financial and operational health of its struggling metropolitan municipalities, with the goal of improving basic services and unlocking more than R100 billion in infrastructure investment.
National Treasury director-general Dr Duncan Pieterse warned at the launch of the Metro Trading Services Reform last month, saying that South Africa’s economic future hinges on functional cities.
“If our cities do not work, South Africa cannot grow,” Pieterse said, underscoring that metros are the engines of economic activity, innovation and inclusion.
Last year, it was also reported that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has revealed that the government is managing a loan package totalling about R 54 billion from international lenders, including the World Bank, African Development Bank, and KFW.
Godongwana explained that this is not a single new loan but rather a package made up of multiple loans from different development partners.
“We’re dealing with another one now, which is supporting performance-related for municipalities. Again, it’s a consortium of the World Bank, the KFW, the African Development Bank, all of them coming together to put up a loan for us,” he said.
mthobisi.nozulela@iol.co.za
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