The World Bank has approved a USD350m financing package to support South Africa’s electricity infrastructure expansion (World Bank press release, 05/03/2026). Under the South Africa Blended Finance Platform for Resilient Infrastructure Program, the funds will be used to establish a Credit Guarantee Vehicle designed to reduce risk for private investors, commercial lenders, and institutional funds to participate in large-scale projects within the country aiming to expand South Africa’s electricity transmission grid and strengthen energy security.
The overall program plans to mobilise up to ZAR160bn (USD10bn) in infrastructure over a ten-year period through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to “de-risk investment in infrastructure, crowd in private capital, and reduce reliance on sovereign guarantees”, of which USD350m will be destined to support project pipeline development and implementation capacity.
According to Enerdata’s Global Energy Research, South Africa’s Eskom expects 56 GW of new generation capacity by 2034, mainly from renewables in areas with limited network infrastructure, and it plans to add 14,500 km of high-voltage lines and 210 transformer to connect the new capacities to the grid.