Latest news with #DevelopmentBankofSouthernAfrica
TimesLIVE
10-07-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Ekurhuleni municipal building's R46m budget skyrockets beyond R300m
After eight years, five contractors and more than R300m paid to the City of Ekurhuleni to renovate a municipal building, the structure in Germiston remains unfinished. The project launched in 2017 with a completion date set for 2021 still needs an additional R39m to complete. The plan was to ease severe office space shortages for the municipality but the project has turned into a drawn-out financial nightmare. When Sowetan visited the SAAME building this week, there was no contractor on site. Rubble surrounded the 10-storey structure, unused building materials including cement lay scattered around and there was no sign of any ongoing work. The building remains barricaded with only security guards stationed at the premises. A 71-page forensic report tabled in council in March 2025 outlined a damning paper trail of irregularities, inflated prices for material which cost the city more than R136m and defective workmanship for which the municipality had to fork out R4.8m. The council also lost R70m to unauthorised payments to some of the contractors. The total financial value of these irregularities amounted to R272m. The investigation into the refurbishment of the building was requested by the city manager after noticing 'potential red flags and substandard service from contractors'. According to the report, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) was hired to manage the project and was paid more than R8.1m. Themane Management Consultants (TMC) was paid more than R163m, while Anita Building Construction, which later renamed itself FM Infrastructure, was paid R94.1m.
IOL News
09-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
China Development Bank and DBSA seal R5bn loan agreement to bolster African infrastructure
The Overberg Wind Farm project, which successfully reached financial close in March, is one of the projects that the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) played a pivotal role in financing. Image: Supplied The China Development Bank (CDB) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) have signed a landmark loan facility agreement worth $293 million (around R5.2 billion). CDB is the largest bank for infrastructure investment and financing in China, and a main bank supporting projects under China's Belt and Road Initiative. It is committed to promoting investment and financing cooperation with developing countries around the world. The agreement was reached during the annual meeting of the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism held in Brazil, signalling a new chapter in the collaboration between these two financial institutions. The recently established facility is set to fund a diverse range of projects in infrastructure, energy, information and communications technology (ICT), water, health, and manufacturing sectors across Africa. This multifaceted approach aims to address pressing development needs and catalyse sustainable economic growth in the region, as Africa's infrastructure gap is estimated at over $100 billion a year, which is a major barrier to inclusive growth. CDB President Tan Jiong expressed optimism about the future of cooperation between the two institutions, saying 'This agreement marks a new stage in our cooperation.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ It underlines the commitment of both banks to collaborate on initiatives that bolster trade and economic integration within the BRICS framework, ultimately reinforcing the all-round strategic partnership between China and South Africa. This collaboration is in line with the 'Ten Major Partnership Actions' unveiled by China during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2024. It is driven by a mutual vision to accelerate modernisation and establish an all-weather community with a shared future for both China and Africa. DBSA CEO, Boitumelo Mosako, articulated the importance of the agreement, emphasising its role in shaping the future. 'We sign this line of credit with our partner CDB to advance our ambition,' Mosako said. 'An ambition that carries a profound weight of future responsibility, for we are enabling unwritten chapters of our future through the sustainable infrastructure that we build today.'
The Citizen
12-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Barely able to run ports, state pushes for national shipping company
Development Bank of Southern Africa, one of the few relatively well-functioning state-owned enterprises, is playing a key role in this. The government owned Safmarine for over 50 years – and imports and exports do not depend on whether SA has a national shipping carrier. Picture: Shutterstock It really is preposterous, isn't it? A government that wants to establish a new state-owned shipping company, but whose navy has little to no working ships and whose air force has little to no working aircraft. Thankfully, government is – as it does – moving forward so unhurriedly that we may not see final legislation to create a new state-owned shipping company by the early 2030s. The process to establish the unimaginatively named South African Shipping Company (Sasco) began in 2017 with the publication of the Comprehensive Maritime Transport Policy, under then minister of transport Joe Maswanganyi. In 2022, a pre-draft bill regarding Sasco's establishment was published by the then minister of transport Fikile Mbalula. It took a further three years after that for the department to start engaging stakeholders. Read more Budget 2024: No new bailouts for underperforming SOEs Recently, it invited industry role players to participate in a steering committee to help guide its development. The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), one of the few relatively well-functioning state-owned enterprises, is playing a key role in this process. ALSO READ: Development Bank of Southern Africa 'is bullish' 'Own import and export trade' 'In particular,' the department says, the state will 'implement radical measures' and intends to ensure 'a significant targeted percentage of exports and imports are moved by the national shipping carrier'. It says the company model 'will enable South Africa to carry its own import and export trade which has suffered a negative growth since the 1980s since South Africa does not have a national shipping carrier'. Not only is this factually incorrect (we had a state-owned shipping company until 1999), it also simply makes no sense. The government owned Safmarine for over 50 years, but it was sold to global shipping giant Maersk at the end of the 1990s, which integrated it into the group in the 2000s. Maersk dropped the brand in 2020. Imports and exports do not depend on whether South Africa has a national shipping carrier. In fact, regulations that restrict cabotage, or the transporting of goods between two ports within the same country, may well negatively impact trade volumes. The policy sees a phasing in of cabotage restrictions, a targeted increase in domestic/state-owned vessels, and legislation on the carriage of government cargo by South African ships. ALSO READ: New minister of transport's five targets a clear and encouraging vision Even Ethiopia has a fleet … As far back as 2013, when Durban hosted the Brics Maritime Trade Forum, government appeared to realise that we were the only of the five founding members of Brics not to own a fleet of vessels. It highlighted that even Ethiopia had a state-owned fleet. Speaking to SAfm Market Update with Moneyweb, transport economist Dr Joachim Vermooten explained that: 'The international shipping industry is a very, very large industry, and it operates similarly to other network industries where you get economies of scope and scale. 'Now, with [just] a few ships you can't get any economic leverage to actually do that – and ultimately it would mean that you would end up with higher shipping rates because it increases the empty directional operations by ships. 'So, I think, you know, under the current economic situation there is no room for actually starting up a state-owned shipping company because we just can't generate the types of volumes to actually make it work. 'And that's why Safmarine was eventually sold to Maersk, which is a very, very large organisation. And before it was absorbed into Maersk itself, the company grew, I think, seven or eight times larger than it had been under the auspices of government ownership.' ALSO READ: Creecy 'very concerned' about Air Traffic Navigation Services woes Won't compete effectively That sums up the problem perfectly. A fleet of five, 10 or even a few dozen ships just won't be enough to be able to compete effectively. Thankfully, The Presidency knows that shipping is a network industry. That's part of the reason why it's rammed through reforms to introduce private sector players into Transnet's underperforming ports. The policy ideologues at the Department of Transport, however, don't seem to get this. Vermooten also says cabotage, which comes from 16th Century France, was adopted across Europe to reserve port-to-port operations for shipping lines run by each country. This principle has been relaxed totally for those within the EEC [European Economic Community]. He adds that 'South Africa's waters are not very conducive to this type of operation'. 'Practically, I think it would be wrong for us to apply a cabotage. We don't have the shipping, we don't have the routes that operate, and our land transportation is so good with trucks in various forms that it's very difficult to think that there are any routes along the coast that can actually financially sustain a shipping route.' ALSO READ: How to fix Transnet's ports in the interest of economic growth 'Billions will be spent' The overarching problem with the bureaucracy in national government (in particular), is that once a process like this starts, it's very, very difficult to stop. The train has left the station. And so the state will inch forward, slowly, and finally yet another state-owned enterprise will be established, complete with funding, a corporate structure (including board seats that must be filled), and staff. By that point, it likely won't own a single ship, but tens/hundreds of millions will have been spent to get there. Once it starts amassing a fleet (even of a single ship), that's where billions and billions will be spent. A cynical view might be that the DBSA is only involved as the fiscus has no money to fund Sasco. But that's the reality. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
Bloomberg
12-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
South Africa's PIC Leads a $37 Million Pledge for Green Hydrogen
South Africa's Public Investment Corp., the continent's biggest money manager, and two development institutions have pledged $37 million to a fund for financing green hydrogen projects. The Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa will help finance the SA-H2 fund, which blends public and private capital. It is managed by a partnership between Hague-based Climate Fund Managers and Invest International, a Dutch development finance institution.
Zawya
04-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Africa Investment Forum Partners Sign Partnership Framework Agreement at African Bank Development Bank Group's 2025 Annual Meetings
On the sidelines of the African Development Bank Annual Meetings ( founding partners of the Africa Investment Forum signed a Partnership Framework Agreement, reinforcing their collective commitment to mobilize transformative investments across the African continent. The new framework creates a clearer partnership model that sets out the roles and benefits for the founding partners. It also opens the door for expansion to new partners, ensuring everyone benefits while increasing the Forum's overall impact. Launched in 2018, the Africa Investment Forum platform has solidified its standing as Africa's premier investment marketplace for global investors and has garnered nearly $225 billion in investment interest to date. Principals of the African Development Bank Group, Africa50, Africa Finance Corporation, Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) signed the agreement. The other partners are Trade and Development Bank, European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank and Afreximbank. Speaking at the signing ceremony, President of the African Development Bank Group and chairperson of the Africa Investment Forum, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina said: "This agreement is a testament to our shared vision: that Africa will not be developed by aid, but by investment. The AIF has changed perceptions and proven that Africa is indeed a bankable destination." Dr Fahad Abdullah Aldossari, Chairman of BADEA's Board of Directors said: 'The signing of the AIF Framework Agreement marks a remarkable milestone to ascertain both effectiveness and efficiency as well as financial sustainability for AIF 2.0 in a bid to advance more projects to bankability and crowd-in transformative investments to the continent.' Alain Ebobissé, CEO of Africa 50 said: 'This signature marks our renewed commitment to support the objectives of the Africa Investment Forum, launched under the visionary leadership of President Adesina. It is a much-needed deal-making platform that helps strengthen collaborations and leverage innovative models to unlock private capital to accelerate the delivery of bankable projects on the continent. It is critical for African Institutions to support it'. 'As a Founding Partner, we are proud to see this initiative formally take shape. Through AIF, we've proven what Africa can achieve when we collaborate — building the continent's first investment platform that truly mobilizes capital for bankable, high-impact projects,' said Samaila Zubairu, President and CEO of Africa Finance Corporation. "We have to continue leveraging the AIF as a platform for capital mobilisation in Africa, to bridge the infrastructure funding gap in the continent," said DBSA's CEO Boitumelo Mosako. The signing of the Partnership Framework Agreement takes place ahead of what is expected to be an expanded and impactful Market Days 2025, to be held from 26 to 28 November 2025 in Rabat, Morocco. Market Days, the centerpiece of the Africa Investment Forum platform, brings together investors, deal sponsors and heads of government to advance transformational African projects toward financial close. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
