BERLIN: German development bank KfW announced it has given a large loan to South Africa to help the nation make its energy grid more sustainable. It’s an investment in renewables, with the emphasis being on solar and wind energy.
Commissioned by the German Development Ministry, state-owned KfW bank granted a 4-billion-rand (300-million-euro, $326-million) loan to South Africa’s power supplier ESKOM, the lender reported on its website on Wednesday.
Although most loans are paid out in euros or dollars, this one was disbursed in rand, making it the biggest single credit ever granted by the German bank in a local currency to any developing or emerging nation.
The financial assistance is meant to help South Africa make a quantum leap towards more sustainable and reliable energy supplies in a nation where power outages are a still a common phenomenon.
