Keynote address by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (SIDSSA) 2024, Century City Conference Centre, Cape Town

Programme Director;
Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Mr Sihle Zikalala;
Premier of the Western Cape, Mr Alan Winde;
Honourable Ministers from other countries on the African continent;
Ministers and Deputy Ministers;
Delegates;
Sponsors,
Distinguished guests;

Ladies and gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to speak at the 2024 Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium, which has become a valuable platform to enable greater investment in infrastructure in South Africa.

Investment in infrastructure is central to the achievement of our development goals. 

Infrastructure is an enormous economic multiplier, providing dividends for an economy long after the infrastructure has been built. 

This Symposium is an important part of our effort to close the infrastructure spending gap in our country. 

It is estimated that to achieve our infrastructure goals, we need an additional R1.6 trillion in public sector infrastructure investment and a further R3.2 trillion from the private sector by 2030. 

A number of bold initiatives are being implemented to deliver infrastructure at the required scale and pace. 

We are working on reforms to develop sustainable infrastructure, lift business confidence and encourage investment. 

These reforms include the amendment of the Division of Revenue Act to enable provincial governments to use their infrastructure grants and budget allocations to crowd-in private sector finance for large social infrastructure programmes.

These programmes focus specifically on health and education. 

Among other things, this would enable government to diversify infrastructure financing through innovative solutions. 

Amendments to the Public Private Partnership regulations, which have recently been published for public comment, are part of broader reforms to mobilise and pool public and private sector resources for infrastructure. 

The operationalisation of the Infrastructure Fund has seen a steady growth in the portfolio of blended finance projects that use relatively small fiscal allocations to de-risk public infrastructure projects and raise finance in debt capital markets. 

Through the work that has been done in transforming the infrastructure landscape, the total value of the country’s Strategic Integrated Projects has grown from R340 billion in July 2020 to R540 billion now. 

Eighteen projects, valued at around R10 billion, have been completed, covering human settlements, roads, water and sanitation. 

The value of projects currently in construction is over R230 billion.

Projects worth nearly R170 billion are currently in procurement. 

It is significant that blended finance projects, which leverage private sector financing, are also growing steadily. 

In this calendar year, eleven such projects, with a total investment value of R45 billion, are expected to reach financial close. 

One of the areas that we have focused on is the unblocking of multiple government authorisations, permits, licences and exemptions. 

To date, Infrastructure South Africa has unblocked a total of R25 billion worth of projects in the renewable energy space using the Infrastructure Development Act to fast-track government authorisations. 

Among the Strategic Integrated Projects, the energy portfolio has the biggest project pipeline, covering transmission, gas, renewables and green hydrogen. 

The project pipeline comprises more than 100 projects amounting to R240 billion. 

South Africa is positioning itself to be a leader in green hydrogen, working towards a sustainable future driven by innovation. 

The green hydrogen programme, estimated at R300 billion and comprised of 14 projects, is an important part of the country’s just transition. 

Major water infrastructure projects are under construction in several parts of the country, expanding the capacity of our dams and bulk water infrastructure. 

The transport sector is one the best performing portfolios in the SIP pipeline, with six projects worth R25 billion completed to date, and a further five projects currently in construction. 

The human settlements portfolio has to date created over 38,000 direct jobs and nearly 9,000 housing units have been constructed. 

The key to developing a bankable and viable project pipeline is project preparation. 

Projects being taken to procurement without the requisite readiness often lead to cost and time overruns during implementation. 

We have made bold and decisive interventions to provide a predictable funding regime for project preparation and consolidate expertise in developing bankable projects through our own infrastructure development agency, Infrastructure South Africa. 

Infrastructure South Africa is re-orientating project preparation to promote growth and enable export sectors, manufacturing and the green economy. 

It is focusing on projects that contribute to job creation, both during construction and operations. 

It is promoting economic competitiveness through projects that help integrate South Africa into global supply chains, particularly focusing on rail and port.

Infrastructure South Africa is also preparing projects in a manner that contributes to inclusivity by broadening the participation of local content.

This approach is being applied to what it has identified as the top 12 priority infrastructure projects, with a cumulative project value of more than R180 billion.

It is anticipated that more than 400,000 jobs, both direct and indirect, will be created during the construction and operation of these projects. 

The top 12 priority infrastructure projects aim to leverage technical and financial expertise of development finance institutions and multilateral development banks to increase the capacity of the state. 

The priority projects include the Fetakgomo Tubatse, Namakwa and Nkomazi Special Economic Zones, which are earmarked for project preparation support. 

Four of the top 12 priority projects support the planned investment in rail and ports to alleviate the freight congestion, shift transportation of goods from road to rail, and boost exports through improved access to international markets. 

There also priority projects for project preparation in energy security and the green economy, such as Eskom’s gas project at Mossel Bay and pumped hydro storage project in Fetakgomo Tubatse Special Economic Zone. 

Water infrastructure projects have traditionally been financed largely through the fiscus. 

Through the preparation of both the Amathole Water bulk supply augmentation and the Rooiwal waste water treatment plant, Infrastructure South Africa is aiming to leverage private sector involvement in the financing and delivery of these projects. 

The health and education programmes included in the top 12 priority projects are aimed at addressing the funding challenge, avoiding cost and schedule overruns and ensuring integrated planning and proper procurement processes. 

We are working to rebuild the construction industry and ensure that it is able to deliver projects on time, within budget and to the right quality. 

With well over 1.2 million people employed in the industry, there needs to be a constant reliable pipeline of projects that enables the sector and its supplier industry to plan ahead. 

Infrastructure South Africa is today publishing the first edition of a Construction Book that showcases 153 infrastructure projects across five major state-owned enterprises. These include Transnet Freight Rail, Transnet National Ports Authority, Airports Company South Africa, Eskom and SANRAL. 

The projects showcased in this Construction Book will contribute to greater economic growth, while at the same time supporting the provision of public services and laying the foundation for long-term growth. 

The Construction Book, a first of its kind in South Africa, demonstrates government’s ambition to drive economic development through the construction sector and deliver high quality infrastructure projects that create value in the economy and society.

We are not limiting our ambition to South Africa alone.

The development and integration of the African continent requires a massive investment in infrastructure, including regional infrastructure. 

We have built broad political consensus on the need for infrastructure integration, but despite this, progress on implementing regional and continent-wide infrastructure has been slow. 

Compared to other regions of the world, Sub-Saharan Africa has the longest export times, the highest export costs and onerous border compliance requirements. 

Transport costs along Southern African Development Community corridors are among the highest in the world, with border posts imposing significant costs and time delays. 

We therefore welcome the inaugural Leaders Forum Meeting convened by Minister Sihle Zikalala yesterday. 

We hope that it will bring fresh momentum to regional and continent-wide projects, institutionalise platforms of engagement and lead to a sharing of resources for project preparation and execution, finance and private sector participation. 

We must be resolute as we work to progress projects to financial close and implementation. 

We must continue our efforts to create the right environment to develop better infrastructure, and we must improve the delivery of catalytic infrastructure projects that connect countries and regions. 

Since it was first held in 2020, the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium has been an essential part of the growth of infrastructure investment in our country.

As we reflect on the great progress that has been made, we look ahead to even better prospects for growth and development in our economy.

We have done much over the last few years. Through this Symposium we are laying a foundation to do much more.

I thank you.