The South Africa NDP MoU with the BRICS New Development Bank was signed at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, and it actually marks a significant step for the country’s infrastructure financing strategy. The agreement strengthens cooperation between South Africa and the BRICS New Development Bank while also expanding funding for NDB investment projects across multiple sectors.
Right now, the bank has already invested over $5 billion in various projects, with South Africa receiving around $1 billion that officials focused mainly on energy through partnerships with Eskom, along with the Industrial Development Corporation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. This BRICS economic shift provides an alternative funding source as the country works toward its 2030 targets, and the South Africa NDP MoU signals a major economic shift in how the nation approaches development finance.
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How NDB Investment Projects Accelerate South Africa’s Economic Growth
Portfolio Evaluation Is Underway
BRICS nations established the New Development Bank, which serves as an alternative funding source for the global south, and it is actually conducting an extensive review of its South Africa NDP MoU investments. The bank’s executives are in the country for assessments, and Ashwani Muto, Director General of the Independent Evaluation Office at the New Development Bank, has been leading this evaluation effort.
Muto stated:
“We’ll be assessing the corporation, the partnership, the investments over the past decade. This requires a very comprehensive evaluation of the entire portfolio projects, more than $5 billion dollars we’re talking about and this will entail site visits interaction with government institutions private sector stakeholders academia and others.”
NDB investment projects have expanded the South Africa economy growth strategy and are now targeting sectors beyond just energy. At the time of writing, the bank is prioritizing infrastructure, transport, and digital development, which represents a broader approach to the country’s development needs.
Muto had this to say:
“While NDB has funded a large part of projects in South Africa in energy, our general strategy does prioritize also investments in other areas including infrastructure, transport, digital infrastructure, natural resources and environment, environment sustainability. So there are also other sectors and we have a new director general of our regional office here in Johannesburg for the NDB and now she’s looking at scaling up the pipeline of projects and portfolio.”
Framework Alignment and Policy Updates
Updates to the National Evaluation Policy Framework have aligned the South Africa NDP MoU, which officials are modernizing right now to support the BRICS economic shift and South Africa economy growth objectives. South Africa is in the process of amending the national evaluation policy framework, and Minister Marupin Ramopa, who serves in the presidency for planning, monitoring and evaluation, believes the move will actually put the focus on outcomes and review government projects with less impact.
Ramopa said:
“The updated version of the NEPF 2025 is now moving through government lasters on its way to cabinet for approval. It was necessary to update the NEPF and this were some of the reasons that we believed are quite critical. We did that so that we may be able to align with new national priorities and set out goals in the medium-term development plan of 2024 to 2025 that was adopted earlier this year which is going to actually become the policy document that this seventh administration of government will actually be using.”
The government designed the updated framework to address development backlogs and accelerate implementation before the 2030 deadline. The government is establishing tracking mechanisms to monitor G20 commitments as South Africa prepares to transfer its presidency to the United States. The plan is to also include artificial intelligence and integrated data systems to generate and use evaluation evidence that will inform policy decisions and budget allocations.
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The BRICS New Development Bank will spend the coming year conducting a comprehensive portfolio review of all NDB investment projects that have been funded in South Africa. The bank is coordinating this evaluation process to support the country’s 2030 National Development Plan targets along with the Sustainable Development Goals, and the South Africa NDP MoU framework provides the foundation for this ongoing cooperation. The BRICS economic shift represents a move toward more diversified funding sources, and officials will assess the New Development Bank’s role in supporting South Africa economy growth through infrastructure development over the next year through site visits and stakeholder consultations.