South Africa Targets Infrastructure Deals With Guarantee Fund

South Africa plans to rapidly expand a new credit-guarantee vehicle to support billions of dollars in infrastructure projects, from power-grid expansion and water systems to ports and freight rail.

The program — a first for the country — is designed to mobilize private capital while limiting pressure on the state, which has previously been forced to extend sovereign guarantees to scandal-hit state companies. Those contingent liabilities currently amount to about 661 billion rand ($40 billion).