President Cyril Ramaphosa Calls to Drive Investment in Infrastructure at Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium
In a compelling address to stakeholders and investors at the 2024 Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium of South Africa (SIDSSA) held in Cape Town, President Cyril Ramaphosa underscored the urgent need for private-led investment in the nation’s infrastructure development. President Ramaphosa highlighted a significant funding requirement, stating, “It is estimated that to achieve our infrastructure goals, we need almost R4.8 trillion to address the challenges we face as a country. We need that from both the public sector and the private sector – from a much larger extent.”
The symposium, occurring from March 17-19 at the Century City Conference Center, stands as a monumental assembly of key African and international stakeholders. The purpose of SIDSSA 2024 is to bolster the dialogue and partnerships essential to advancing the infrastructure investment landscape, with a keen focus on propelling economic activities through strategic and sustainable infrastructure initiatives.
Under President Ramaphosa’s leadership, the South African government is diligently working towards revitalizing the infrastructure sector, appealing to private investment in strategic initiatives. A notable regulatory reform in this direction is the amendment of the Division of Revenue Act, aimed at empowering provincial governments to employ their grants in co-financing large-scale infrastructure projects with the private sector. This, according to President Ramaphosa, is a crucial step in “opening up opportunities for the private sector to work alongside government to create revenue-generating projects.”
This year’s edition of SIDSSA was hosted by Sihle Zikalala, the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure. Zikalala emphasized the platform’s significance in showcasing the progress achieved since the symposium’s initiation in 2020 and in determining actionable steps towards financing critical infrastructure, a cornerstone for Africa’s development and economic recovery.
Initiatives such as SIDSSA, alongside the establishment of Infrastructure South Africa in 2020, have played cardinal roles in bridging the gap between the public and private sectors, thereby catalyzing investment in strategic infrastructure projects. Zikalala further elaborated on the tangible outcomes of these efforts, revealing that “more than 195 licenses, permits, and approvals have been unlocked within 47 projects alone. Furthermore, the Infrastructure Fund has been instrumental in leveraging private investment, with 13 mega blended finance projects or programs receiving approval to date.”
The symposium also offered insight into the transformative strides undertaken through infrastructure development to revitalize the economy. Reflecting on the advancements within the Western Cape, Tertuis Simmers, Provincial Minister of Infrastructure, shared, “The Western Cape is emerging as Africa’s premier digital hub, with Cape Town rapidly establishing itself as the cloud computing hub of South Africa. This achievement is a testament to our ambitious vision and commitment to infrastructure development as the foundation for our province’s economic progress.”
As SIDSSA 2024 concludes, it leaves behind a reinvigorated commitment to not just bridging the infrastructure investment gap but also to catalyzing sustainable economic growth and development across South Africa and the broader African continent.
