From townships to truck stops

Managers of several South African impact funds were quite upbeat about South Africa’s unique infrastructure investment opportunities, which range from township retail centres and water reticulation systems to truck stops in under-serviced areas.

In spite of this, allocation to infrastructure by the country’s R4.4tn of pension fund savings remains dire.

‘Less than 2% of pension funds’ assets are in infrastructure,’ Solly Tsie, head of investment strategy at Sanlam Corporate Investments, told the Batseta Winter Conference 2024.