The City of Cape Town has secured a further R3.5 billion in financing towards its infrastructure investment over three years.
The municipality plans to spend R39.5 billion between July 2024 and June 2027, South Africa’s largest ever three-year infrastructure spend by a metropolitan municipality.
Cape Town accounted for 60% of the R100 billion in overall government infrastructure projects announced nationally in 2023, according to Nedbank’s updated Capital Expenditure Project Listing published in February 2024.
According to Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, the infrastructure investment pipeline is estimated to create 130 000 construction-related jobs with lower income households directly benefiting from 75% (R9 billion) of the City’s R12 billion infrastructure spend in 2024/2025.
The City’s ten-year pipeline is valued at an estimated R120 billion with most of the projects classified as ‘Economic, Social and Governance (ESG)’ and linked to the City’s overall Climate Change Strategy.
In October 2023, the City published a request for funding proposals (RFP) regarding financial years 2023/2024 and 2024/2025, which was followed by extensive engagements with local and international lenders.
Alongside the Nedbank finance approval in June 2024, City Council further approved $150 million in finance from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and in April 2023, greenlit €100 million developmental financing from the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD).
The municipality is following a blended finance model, which includes funding from its own healthy balance sheet, as well as finance from the local and international markets.
Further financing agreements are set to serve before Council during the 2024/2025 financial year regarding the balance of the funding requirements for the City’s infrastructure plans.
