EIB in Talks With South Africa Over Loan for Ports, Freight Rail
- Deal would be first under EIB’s €1 billion commitment to JETP
- South Africa has some of the world’s most ineffcient ports
A freight train carrying coal in Middelburg, South Africa.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The European Investment Bank said it’s in talks to loan South Africa money to upgrade its port and freight-rail infrastructure as its first contribution to a decarbonization pact known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership.
The loan, the size of which the EIB didn’t disclose, is part of its €1 billion ($1.07 billion) commitment to the JETP, it said in a response to queries on Thursday. The agreement to help South Africa transition away from the use of coal consists of $8.8 billion in climate finance pledged by the European Union, via the EIB, France, Germany, the US, UK, Netherlands and Denmark.