South Africa

AFD supports South Africa’ sustainable urban development policy, which aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. AFD provides direct loans to metropolitan municipalities for infrastructure projects and to fund capital budgets to support development policies. It also uses financial intermediaries to support small and medium sized municipalities in their basic infrastructure investments.

South Africa’s largest cities have been tapping into AFD’s expertise in their effort to promote more carbon-efficient urban development and greater resilience to climate change. Through a technical cooperation agreement, AFD has facilitated peer-to-peer dialogue on climate resilience and adaptation between staff of the City of Paris and City of Johannesburg. In Cape Town, AFD has funded a study on risks assessment and adaptation solutions through the Cities and Climate Change in Africa programme, which aims at accelerating the implementation of infrastructure projects, while at the same time maximizing their climate co-benefits.

AFD supports the government of Mauritius in defining its energy policy and programming its investments. 

To this end, alongside the Green Climate Fund, AFD is working to improve electricity transmission and the injection of renewable energy into the Central Electricity Board (CEB) grid and support the private sector by contributing to the financing for investments designed to reduce the impact of climate change via the SUNREF III line of credit. This line of credit contributes to:

• continuing the efforts begun to promote attenuation efforts,
• supporting the private sector by contributing to the financing for investments designed to reduce the impact of climate change (adaptation projects),
• supporting government policy on gender equality at work within the private sector, by encouraging the adoption and implementation of gender action plans.

AFD regards vocational training and access to decent employment, especially for previously disadvantaged youth, as key to unlock the economic potential of the country. Currently, more than half of young people aged 15-24 are unemployed in South Africa. 

AFD works with government, universities public and private training institutions to improve access to employment by supporting higher education and vocational training programmes. AFD is currently exploring the possibility of providing student loans and student accommodation, which will contribute to increasing access to quality education for previously disadvantaged populations.

AFD also remains committed to improve access to housing for previously disadvantaged populations. To this end, AFD has developed key partnerships with private property developers such as the Affordable Housing Company (AFHCO) and state-owned financing institutions such as the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) and the Gauteng Partnership Fund (GPF).