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The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a $503.75 million loan to South Africa to support reforms that open electricity, freight transport and water to competition and private investment, the bank said on 12 November. The programme sets targets such as a wholesale power market handling 10% of electricity transactions and at least six new private rail and port operators approved by December 2027. It brings the bank's budget support to South Africa since 2023 to more than $1.2 billion, after loans of $300 million in 2023 and $474.5 million in 2025. Development lenders now tie a growing share of South Africa's budget financing to ending Eskom's and Transnet's control of power trading and rail access.
