ESTABLISHMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE FUND PROGRESSING WELL – MBOWENI

Emphasising the importance of driving further infrastructure investment
in the country, Finance Minister Tito
Mboweni on Wednesday said government had made progress on
establishing a blended finance infrastructure fund that
would be hosted by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)
and led by Dr Sean Phillips.

According to the Medium-Term Budget Policy
Statement, delivered by the Minister in Parliament, the fund’s implementation
unit had been established.

The fund is aimed at fast-tracking the development
of projects and
programmes by drawing on existing capacity in the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating
Commission, the National Treasury, the Government Technical Advisory Centre
(GTAC) and the Independent Power Producers Office.

The unit was also identifying policy and regulatory
hurdles in the public sector that hampered private and public investment.

“The implementation team for the fund is at work.
They have already identified policy and regulatory hurdles,” Mboweni asserted.

The fund was collaborating with the private sector
through associations such as the Banking Association of South Africa, the
Association for Savings and Investment South Africa and the Public-Private
Growth Initiative.

Mboweni said a pipeline of possible projects valued at
more than R500-billion had been

identified by the fund. This included proposals
from government, the private sector and the DBSA.

Government had set aside R100-billion over the
coming decade to co-finance programmes and projects that
blend public and private resources, with
R10-billion in the baseline.

Pilot projects, including the
Student Housing Infrastructure Programme
and Small Harbours Programme, would receive R529.8-million in the current year.

According to the 2019 Adjusted Estimates of National
Expenditure, the National Treasury has earmarked R100-million for project preparation
for the infrastructure fund implementation
unit to assist public sector institutions with project planning
and appraisal.

“We are working with the private sector to make
this fund a success,” Mboweni said.

He highlighted that, under President Cyril Ramaphosa, the structural reform
agenda contained in the National Development Plan had seen a resurgence, with
the infrastructure fund
benefitting from this, as it was now being rolled out.

Mboweni lamented that public-sector infrastructure projects were
plagued by poor planning and implementation, as evidenced by underspending,
which reached 20% of capital budgets last year.

The fund is one measure to combat this. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/budget3-2019-10-30