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The AfDB loan will be allocated to projects including promoting energy efficiency and rail reforms. Picture: 123RF
The AfDB loan will be allocated to projects including promoting energy efficiency and rail reforms. Picture: 123RF

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will give SA a $474.6m (R8.34bn) 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 $1.5bn loan SA agreed with the World Bank last month for a similar purpose.

For more than a decade SA has struggled to grow due to power blackouts, crumbling rail networks and chronically congested ports that have held back major industries such as mining and car manufacturing.

The AfDB said its financing aimed to promote energy efficiency and rail reforms, among other things.

Its support was part of an international financing package for SA that also includes the World Bank loan, €500m (R10.38bn) from German development bank KfW, up to $200m from the Japan International Co-operation Agency and $150m from the Opec Fund for International Development.

Reuters

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