Senior officials from the National Treasury will on Wednesday engage with fixed-income investors as the department readies itself to launch its inaugural infrastructure and development finance bond, with which it hopes to raise at least R15bn.
The call, hosted by the co-managers of the bond, Absa and Tysys Advisory, will see Ravesh Rajlal, the acting deputy director-general for asset and liability management at the National Treasury, and his colleague Wanga Cibi, the chief director for liability management, in attendance.
The money raised from the bond will be used for projects under the government budget facility for infrastructure (BFI), meant to fund large-scale, national priority infrastructure projects that require substantial fiscal support.
“Proceeds from the infrastructure and development bond will be used exclusively to finance or refinance projects under the government’s BFI programme,” the Treasury said, noting the auction will take place on December 8 and be settled on December 11.
The bond forms part of the Treasury’s efforts to introduce dedicated financing instruments that can mobilise cheaper financing to support SA’s infrastructure agenda.
The National Treasury earlier this year reconfigured the BFI into a centralised gateway for all large infrastructure projects that require fiscal support to advance.
Finance minister Enoch Godongwana said in the medium-term budget policy statement tabled two weeks ago that the government was committed to simplifying the institutional arrangements across the infrastructure ecosystem.
“The new Infrastructure Finance and Implementation Support Agency will be operational by March 2026. The agency will provide project preparation support to supply the BFI pipeline. It will centralise infrastructure finance functions to systematically crowd in private capital and promote the use of alternative delivery mechanisms,” he said.
The BFI is an appraisal review process that supports the consideration of large-scale infrastructure proposals valued at R1bn or more that require fiscal support to cover a viability gap.
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