SOUTH AFRICA – The New Development Bank (NDB) has approved a US$1 billion Covid-19 Emergency Program Loan to the Government of the Republic of South Africa for supporting the country’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The loan will support the Government of South Africa in its efforts to contain the economic fallout of the pandemic and start economic recovery.
The loan will be used to finance creation of employment opportunities in South Africa, in particular the first phase of the Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES) aimed to create and support about 700,000 job opportunities in the public sector, together with social protection measures for active labour market participants that temporarily lost their jobs, in order to help them remain in the labour market.
New Development Bank’s financing under the Program is primarily aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.
The loan is part of the second batch of Covid-19 Emergency Program Loans to NDB’s member countries focusing on economic recovery.
The loan focuses on supporting economic growth through employment generation as well as support for labour force participation following the first COVID-19 Emergency Program Loan to South Africa that provided emergency relief funding for supporting healthcare and providing social grants in the country.
The New Development Bank, formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states (acronym coined to associate five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).
According to the Agreement on the NDB, “the Bank shall support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments.
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