{"id":28417,"date":"2026-03-11T19:27:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=28417"},"modified":"2026-03-11T19:28:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:28:45","slug":"world-bank-greenlights-new-blended-finance-platform-to-boost-sas-infrastructure-drive","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/world-bank-greenlights-new-blended-finance-platform-to-boost-sas-infrastructure-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"World Bank greenlights new blended\u2011finance platform to boost SA\u2019s infrastructure drive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"World Bank approves Blended Finance Platform for Resilient Infrastructure Program for South Africa\" src=\"https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/business-africa\/world-bank-approves-blended-finance-platform-for-resilient-infrastructure-program-for-south-africa\/embed?media=audio&amp;size=wide&amp;style=cover\" width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>South Africa\u2019s (SA) efforts to accelerate infrastructure investment, unlock private capital and stimulate economic growth have received a major boost following the World Bank\u2019s approval of the Blended Finance Platform for Resilient Infrastructure Program.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The initiative introduces a Credit Guarantee Vehicle that will help reduce risk for investors and channel private financing into large\u2011scale resilient infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The programme is expected to SA\u2019s broader reform agenda by strengthening investment flows into critical sectors such as energy, transport and water. The World Bank says the platform will work in partnership with national agencies and international development partners to help unblock long\u2011standing infrastructure bottlenecks and crowd in private sector participation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Channel Africa on Wednesday, Bani Kgosana, Chief Revenue Officer at Pragma, said the initiative is timely and necessary, given SA&#8217;s urgent need for infrastructure renewal and maintenance. He said the new Credit Guarantee Vehicle could help unlock a pipeline of bankable projects that have struggled to attract funding due to perceived risk.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the biggest challenges in SA is that infrastructure projects often stall at feasibility stage because investors view them as too risky,\u201d Kgosana said. \u201cA guarantee mechanism from an institution with the credibility of the World Bank sends a powerful signal. It reduces risk, lowers the cost of capital and makes these projects far more attractive to private financiers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He noted that the blended\u2011finance model, which combines public, development and private capital, is becoming a preferred financing approach for emerging markets. \u201cThe reality is that the state does not have the fiscal room to fund infrastructure on its own. Blended finance enables us to leverage limited public resources to attract significantly larger private investment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Kgosana added that improved infrastructure resilience is essential for job creation, competitiveness and long\u2011term economic sustainability. \u201cIf you look at energy reliability, road infrastructure or water security, the economic multiplier is massive. A programme like this can be catalytic in restoring investor confidence and enabling growth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The World Bank says the platform is intended to support structural reforms, strengthen project preparation and ensure SA can mobilise investment at the scale required to close its infrastructure gap.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;World Bank\/Channel Africa&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":28418,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-28417","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28421,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28417\/revisions\/28421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=28417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}