DBSA hands out R9.2bn for infrastructure projects

Releasing the bank's first integrated annual financial results for the financial year to March‚ DBSA estimated that at least 22‚100 direct jobs would be created in SA from these infrastructure funding investments.

Investment support to the municipal market remained an important focus for the DBSA as infrastructure backlogs continued to hamper service delivery in many municipalities. Approvals for the year to metros amounted to R2.3bn and support to secondary and under-resourced municipalities totalled R937m.

Total disbursements to municipalities were 36.5% higher than in 2011/12‚ with R1.2bn disbursed during the year. Within under-resourced municipalities‚ the bank doubled its disbursements to R127m.

During the year the bank also provided selected non-financing services to municipalities and supported eight municipalities with turnaround strategies and facilitated the completion of 24 projects as part of the bank's operations and maintenance programme.

As part of the bank's growth path‚ the organisation seeks to expand its pre- and post-financing support to secondary and under-resourced municipalities.

The bank says it continued to support the government's energy-generation programme with over R5.6bn spent on power projects‚ including the Department of Energy's renewable energy independent power producers procurement programme.

Of these amounts‚ R937m was committed and R172m disbursed in favour of B-BBEE enterprises. "Through this programme the Department seeks to procure at least 3‚825MW from independent power producers‚" the bank said.