Latest news with #DBSA
IOL News
25-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
New wealth fund proposed for KwaZulu-Natal to boost projects
KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC, Francois Rodgers has said a new wealth fund will provide funding for those involved in projects that are public-private partnerships . Image: Supplied A new wealth fund has been proposed for KwaZulu-Natal, aimed at ensuring the availability of finance for key catalytic projects that have the capacity to create employment. The fund will primarily service projects that are partnerships between the government and the private sector and ensure they are completed on time and not hamstrung by financing. This wealth fund will provide those involved in the partnership with quicker funding and lower interest rates than those offered by commercial banks, potentially reducing the need to apply for project funding through the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). According to KZN Finance MEC Francois Rodgers, the wealth fund will not rely solely on government contributions as private entities will also contribute. He added that a bank has already committed to participating in the fund. 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 Next Stay Close ✕ The establishment of the fund is one of several resolutions taken during a meeting between the government and the business community last week. The meeting had been called to brief the business community on the new regulations on Private Public Partnerships (PPP) that are set to come into effect next month. Other resolutions include the creation of a single-purpose vehicle designed to fast-track project approvals and ensure timely completion. 'This initiative is a huge step in ensuring that we undertake key projects, create economic growth, and generate job opportunities to grow the economy of this province,' said MEC Rodgers. 'On Friday, officials from the national treasury came to brief the business community on these changes to public-private partnerships (PPP). We had expected about 50 business people to attend, but over 100 attended,' added the MEC. He explained that the purpose of the new regulations is to facilitate easier and quicker formation of PPPs to deliver projects that could benefit even municipalities. 'You know that a PPP, due to the current regulations, could take up to five years to establish.' He said the new PPP regulations will attract private capital to public projects, providing financial benefits for private investors, as the project will remain under government ownership once completed. 'The fund will ensure that projects undertaken under the PPP framework have access to capital, which will be provided more quickly and at lower interest rates than those offered by commercial banks. This will be for catalytic projects; you cannot simply apply to this fund for a fast-food restaurant,' said Rodgers. He noted that the fund will differ from the current KZN Growth Coalition, as it will involve external funding sources, not just government contributions. Additionally, he added, it was agreed to also establish a single-purpose vehicle, overseen by the provincial treasury, to ensure that projects are approved promptly and, most importantly, are not delayed. 'The priority here is to trigger projects that will stimulate investment, create jobs, and grow the economy of the province,' said the MEC. However, economic expert Dawie Roodt expressed concerns about the fund. He said the primary task for the government is to create an environment where businesses can thrive. 'The role of the state is to provide essential services, such as safety, infrastructure, healthcare, and education, not to initiate various new projects. The government should focus on creating a friendly environment and allowing the private sector to take the lead.' THE MERCURY
IOL News
23-05-2025
- General
- IOL News
Can SA balance development and conservation? Insights from the National Biodiversity Offset Conference
CEO of SANBI, Shonisani Munzhedzi, DG of DFFE, Noma Tshabalala, Deputy Resident Representative at the UNDP South Africa Country Office, Gloria Kiondo and CEO of SANParks, Hapiloe Sello at the DFFE's environmental conservation conference at the DBSA on May 22, 2025. Image: Supplied, Michael Mokoena DFFE The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) on Thursday embarked on the first day of two-day-long National Biodiversity Offset conference at the Southern African Development Bank (DBSA) in Midrand, Gauteng. This conference was held in collaboration with the DBSA, South African Biodiversity Institute, and aimed to facilitate engagement among stakeholders and communities. During her remarks at the conference, Director General of the DFFE, Nomfundo Tshabalala, said: "We as DFFE, working with our entities, understand that we have to strike a balance between development and conserving the biodiversity and ecosystem of our country." DFFE director General, Noma Tshabalala addressing the DFFE's environmental conservation conference Image: Supplied, Michael Mokoena, DFFE 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 Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Tshabalala emphasised that people, entities, and businesses should follow protocol when dealing with land and the environment to avoid violating the regulations and causing harm to the environment. "We have a website which will show the geographic landscape of South Africa, showing where there is development, and what it is that you're investing in as you develop an area, to ensure that you offset and you don't deplete conservation in that area," Tshabalala remarked The department's spokesperson, Michael Mokoena, said: "Biodiversity offsetting is one of the ways in which South Africa's Protected and Conservation Areas can be expanded, thereby promoting conservation. It also helps to secure ecologically sustainable development as it mitigates the adverse impact of economic and social development on biodiversity." According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, South Africa's biodiversity is in great danger of extinction, with the National Red List assessments indicating that 10% of South Africa's birds and frogs, 20% of mammals, and 13% of plant species are threatened. The DFFE has attributed this to pollution, climate change, global warming, and the expansion of residential and industrial land. The Convention on Biological Diversity warned: "The loss and degradation of South Africa's biodiversity has serious implications for society and the economy. Natural ecosystems provide many essential services, such as the provision of clean water and air, prevention of soil erosion, pollination of crops, provision of medicinal plants, nutrient cycling, provision of food and shelter, as well as meeting spiritual, cultural, aesthetic, and recreational needs." IOL NEWS
Zawya
09-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
African DFIs push ahead with joint securitisation project: IFR
The African Development Bank and the Development Bank of Southern Africa published on Monday a request for consultants to help them with a proposed first-of-its-kind multi-originator synthetic securitisation programme first announced in December. By transferring credit risk associated with the development banks' loan portfolios to third-party private-sector investors, the programme is intended to unlock lending capacity for new development projects. The project builds on AfDB's "Room2Run" synthetic securitisation, which closed in 2018. The development banks first unveiled the project in December at the Africa Investment Forum 2024 Market Days in Rabat, Morocco, where they signed a letter of intent with investors Academy Securities, Africa50 and Newmarket. "The proposed multi-issuer securitisation vehicle we are shaping – just like with [special drawing rights] rechanneling through hybrid capital and other innovations we continue to explore – exemplifies how collaboration between multilateral development banks and private sector investors can unlock transformative capital flows to address Africa's financing gaps," said Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, in a press release at the time. At first, AfDB and DBSA intend to securitise a combined reference portfolio of roughly US$2bn of their loans, according to a request for proposal published on Monday. By pooling loans originated by multiple development finance institutions, they say they will be able to create larger-scale pools of diversified assets to appeal to institutional investors. According to the RFP, the development banks are looking for advice on how best to structure the multi-originator transaction, which is expected to feature a special purpose vehicle that would consolidate cashflows from the reference portfolios and issue collateralised loan obligations to institutional investors. The banks are looking at a revolving structure that would allow the portfolio to be replenished with new assets over time, rather than a static transaction. Consultants looking to bid for the advisory role have until May 23 to send proposals to the two development banks. Growing momentum The project is part of a broader push by multilateral lenders to mobilise private capital to boost their lending firepower. AfDB has been a trailblazer in this area, kick-starting development bank securitisation when it sold the mezzanine risk associated with a US$1bn portfolio of 47 loans to private-sector borrowers with its Room2Run transaction. Since then, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the West African Development Bank (known as BOAD) and IDB Invest have also carried portfolio risk transfers, sometimes with donor governments and sometimes with insurers, but increasingly also in the form of securitisations. In 2023, BOAD carried out a CFA Fr150bn (US$250m) securitisation called BOAD DOLI-P, underwritten by NSIA Finance, SGI Togo and Impaxis Securities, and the following year IDB Invest completed its "Scaling4Impact" transaction, transferring US$100m of mezzanine risk on a US$1bn portfolio to Newmarket Capital and insurers AXA XL and Axis. Also last year, the World Bank's private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corp, revealed more details of its Warehouse-Enabled Securitization Platform. The up to US$2bn platform (US$1bn from IFC) will co-finance Paris Agreement-aligned emerging market loans by MDBs and hold them until packaged into securities, according to a tender document last year seeking a financial adviser to WESP. BlackRock's independent financial markets advisory business won the tender. Recasts, adds reference to December announcement, investors and structural features.
