South Africa launches Ubuntu Initiative to enhance cross-border infrastructure in Africa

The National Treasury has partnered with the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) in a collaborative effort to bolster cross-border infrastructure across Africa. 

Treasury and the AfDB convened the inaugural consultative meeting on the “South Africa’s Legacy Initiative: The Ubuntu Approach” in Pretoria last week.

The focus of the meeting was to furnish a platform for representatives from various African nations and regional economic communities (RECs), allowing them to delve deeper into the Ubuntu Initiative.

This ambitious initiative echoes one of South Africa's pivotal contributions under the G20 Infrastructure Working Group—including the development of a comprehensive Toolkit aimed at alleviating the primary obstacles to planning, financing, executing, and maintaining cross-border projects.

Participants included senior officials from 15 different countries, the African Union Commission, eight recognised AU regional bodies, and the African Union Development Agency - New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD).

Treasury said participants at the meeting expressed strong support for the Ubuntu Initiative, underscoring its transformative potential. It was suggested that existing capacities and methodologies should be harnessed to prevent redundancy and inefficiencies in implementation.

The Ubuntu Initiative will thus aim to integrate and scale established instruments such as the NEPAD Infrastructure Projects Preparation Facility Special Fund and the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa, enhancing operational capacity and credibility with international partners.

Discussions centred upon the four foundational pillars of the Ubuntu Initiative, each designed to confront the enduring challenges of infrastructure development within the continent:

• Data: This pillar focuses on updating Africa’s cross-border infrastructure gap, particularly in light of the shifting landscape following the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative aims to provide accurate, current information, essential for guiding evidence-based decisions regarding infrastructural investments.
• Pipeline Generation: By identifying transformative cross-border projects that warrant prioritisation and financial structuring, this pillar seeks to create a trustworthy and investable project pipeline capable of attracting private financing.
• Governance Concilium: This aspect aims to enhance governance and capacity support through an expert advisory platform, designed to deliver comprehensive capacity-building assistance, ensuring resources are appropriately allocated and efficiently managed.
• Innovative Financing: The initiative emphasises the acceleration of project implementation via innovative financing models, including public-private partnerships and infrastructure bonds. Multilateral Development Banks are crucial in mitigating risks and rallying private sector investment.

Ultimately, the Ubuntu Initiative aspires to unify Africa around a shared vision of accelerating long-term growth through regional collaboration and economic integration.

This strategic vision aligns with the Pan-African aspiration for “an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens, representing a dynamic force in the international arena.”

In the wake of this meeting, plans are set to translate the commitments into a concrete action plan, paving the way for the next engagement scheduled alongside the upcoming Infrastructure Working Group meeting in September, which will welcome even broader participation. 

Meanwhile, South Africa signed a 15-year, $474.6 million (around R8.4 billion) loan agreement with the AfDB last month in a bid to bolster its energy transition efforts, the National Treasury announced on Thursday.

This crucial financing is part of the third Development Policy Operation and comes with collaboration from key international players including the World Bank, KFW Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund).

Treasury said the agreement marked a pivotal step in South Africa’s ongoing efforts to implement the Just Energy Transition (JET), a plan designed to enhance the efficiency, resilience, and sustainability of the country’s infrastructure services.

This loan agreement echoed the first policy loan secured earlier in 2023, reinforcing South Africa’s commitment to sustainable development through an energy-inclusive strategy.

The partnership with the AfDB is positioned as a cornerstone of South Africa’s development agenda, seeking to improve energy security measures while accelerating the decarbonisation of the economy.

BUSINESS REPORT