Private sector can help SA keep its nose above turbulent waters
Ventures have potential to provide predictable returns and low-risk inflation protection
After bagging a fortune by predicting the US housing-bubble collapse in 2008, hedge-fund manager Michael Burry famously focused his investment activity on one commodity and one only: water. As the global population grows, demand for fresh water is set to soar. But how do people profit from water? For Burry (depicted by Christian Bale in the Oscar-winning film The Big Short), the strategy that made the most sense was investing in food — growing crops in water-rich areas and selling it in dryer regions. He bought almond farms, which are known to be water-hungry. There are several examples in the developed and developing world of water and sewage-treatment infrastructure being financed and managed by the private sector. PwC, in association with the Global Infrastructure Investor Association, recently published a report that highlighted Chile and China as success stories. Towards the end of the 1990s, Chile only had a handful of wastewater-treatment plants, and a mere 15% of sewage was ...
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