OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 4.45pm.
THE European Investment Bank on Monday granted the first private South African company a R229-million loan.
The loan, granted on the strength of a new new guarantee facility provided by the Development Bank of Southern Africa, is viewed as a breakthrough for the private sector as the EIB does not usually lend money directly to private companies without a government guarantee.
DBSA chief executive Dr Ian Goldin said Infrastructure Finance Corporation Limited — a private sector company set up to finance infrastructure development — was the loan on the strength of DBSA’s international credit rating.
“The DBSA has developed new facilities to help local institutions raise capital internationally and locally to assist in financing the huge infrastructure development programme that is needed in South Africa,” said Goldin. INCA’s will be used to provide organisations like local authorities with the funds to develop infrastructure.