South Africa plans to create a state-owned company to manage its vast real estate portfolio, valued at $8.4 billion, aiming to attract private investment for infrastructure projects, Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson told a US media outlet.
"We're going to create an asset book that is worth hundreds of billions of rand that could possibly be traded, could possibly be sold for equity or can raise debt for social infrastructure," the South African official noted.
Over 650 companies have expressed interest in the initiative, with private firms expected to invest 10 billion rand ($544.4 million) and generate annual returns of at least 200 million rand (around $10.9 million), Macpherson pointed out.
The initiative includes a pilot project to revive 31 dilapidated government buildings nationwide, starting with 16 in eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province, he noted.
"The real crisis in infrastructure is in local government," the official added.
To address local governance inefficiencies, the Public Works Ministry is launching an "adopt-a-municipality" initiative, under which public works officials will take the reins on infrastructure projects in four municipalities to ensure that projects are executed effectively and efficiently, the minister said.