Leveraging public funding and risk mitigation to eradicate infrastructure backlogs in South Africa

Fixed investment is a prerequisite to economic growth and sustainable development. Such investment includes large and focused capital spending on the expansion and maintenance of major integrated economic infrastructure.South Africa‘s municipal environment is characterised by extensive infrastructure backlogs, an apparent lack of available funding to eradicate these backlogs as well as incapacities to unlock the required funding.This study proposes a mechanism to successfully unlock available funds and to optimally gear large infrastructure projects. The proposed mechanism focuses on reducing and mitigating project and unsystematic risk evaluations of private financiers. As part of the solution the two concepts of Security Risk Deposit and Limited Risk Deposit are introduced. The solution is based on the principle of associated risk transferral and a type of financial insurance related to remaining perceived levels of project and unsystematic risk.The key dilemma relating to the approach to infrastructure development in South Africa, is presented and is systematically resolved over the course of the study. The proposed solution is simulated and it confirms that it is indeed a valid way of ensuring that government attains more value from the limited available grant funding. Private financiers, government departments and the citizens of South Africa will be able to benefit from the proposed approach.