
SOUTH Africa has received a $474.6m loan from the African Development Bank to upgrade its transport and energy infrastructure, said Reuters citing the bank.
The money adds to the $1.5bn loan South Africa agreed with the World Bank last month for a similar purpose, marking the second major infrastructure loan the country has been promised in recent weeks.
For more than a decade, Africa’s most advanced economy has struggled to grow because of regular power blackouts, crumbling rail networks and chronically congested ports that have held back major industries such as mining and automaking, said Reuters.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s budget last month contained more than 1 trillion rand ($55.5bn) of investment across transport, energy, water and sanitation to support growth and improve public services. It aimed for public debt to peak at 77.4% of gross domestic product in the current fiscal year, slowly declining after that.