About the IIO
The Investment and Infrastructure Office (IIO) is mandated to provide a collaborative platform which seeks to bring together all stakeholders with a vested interest in infrastructure development.
On the 18th of February 2020 President Ramaphosa called together government, financiers – including multilateral development banks, development finance institutions and other industry players in the infrastructure environment under one roof to discuss public sector infrastructure and investment opportunities.
The meeting focused on economic projection, growth in unemployment and especially lack of employment opportunities for youth.
Further it was stressed that public infrastructure spending has been declining in recent years and President Ramaphosa emphasized that the overall infrastructure spend into South Africa’s investment needs must grow. The President announced a target growth of 30% by 2030 to achieve the NDP growth targets.
It is within this context that Government is seeking to initiate a suite of interventions and growth reforms aimed at re-calibrating the country’s economic trajectory in order to promote inclusive growth, economic transformation, spatial justice, and create a globally competitive economy.
State spending on infrastructure, largely aimed at crowding in private sector investment, is an important part of the economic recovery effort. In this regard the state needs to urgently bolster its technical and financial engineering capacity to achieve desired rates of investment.
Simultaneously, infrastructure investments and its implementation need to fit within the different infrastructure plans and regulations of the country.
These include:
The National Development Plan (NDP2030) which provides a broad vision for overall economic and social development. Integrating economic, demographic, social, environmental and governance elements into a coherent framework.
Within the NDP vision, critical instruments which drive government’s medium-term policy agenda include; the New Growth Path (NGP), National Infrastructure Plan (NIP) and the Industrial Policy Action Plan.
The NGP is the economic strategy designed to shift the trajectory of economic development through identified drivers of job creation.
The National Infrastructure Plan was adopted in February 2012 to give effect to the NGP infrastructure drivers. This was followed by the promulgation of the Infrastructure Development Act 23 of 2014.
The Industrial Policy Action Plan is intended to guide the re-industrialisation of the South African economy.
Taking into account the need for infrastructure investment into South Africa in the short term, a Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium (SIDS) to serve as a platform for government entities to present their projects for funding, is proposed for June 2020.
To this end, the IIO will participate in the inaugural SIDS event which will bring together the various stakeholders to discuss the planning, financing and delivery of the next generation of projects which will drive economic and social development. These events are designed to reconsider infrastructure and the partnerships which need to be formed to take it from concept to implementation.
To learn more about the annual symposium, click here