African Development Bank to give South Africa $475m loan

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will give South Africa a $474.6 million loan to upgrade its transport and energy infrastructure, the bank said on Tuesday, the second big infrastructure loan the country has been promised in weeks.

The money adds to the $1.5 billion loan South Africa agreed with the World Bank last month for a similar purpose.

For more than a decade Africa’s most advanced economy has struggled to grow because of regular power blackouts, crumbling rail networks and chronically congested ports that have held back major industries such as mining and automaking.

The African Development Bank said in a statement that its financing aimed to promote energy efficiency and rail reforms, among other things.

It said its support was part of an international financing package for South Africa that also includes the World Bank loan, 500 million euros ($590.75 million) from German development bank KfW, up to $200 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and $150 million from the OPEC Fund for International Development.