Johannesburg Woes Deepen as Key Funder Rejects Loan Request

A request made by the municipality of Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city, for additional financing from the Agence Française de Développement has been turned down, a person familiar with the situation said.

The denial by France’s national development bank was due to the city failing to meet the terms of a 2.5 billion rand ($152 million) loan it got from the AFD in 2024, the person said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. That funding was for the city’s infrastructure budget. The city said it had met all its obligations.