Africa-Press – South-Africa. Major investment projects may have declined in South Africa, but tech giants and energy companies are still pumping billions into the country.
According to Nedbank’s latest Capital Expenditure Project Listing, planned fixed investment projects declined sharply in the first half of 2025.
Nedbank said that the annualised value of newly announced projects fell to R316.2 billion, nearly half of the R592.2 billion recorded in 2024.
Although lower than last year, it remains above the R215.3 billion figure in 2023.
The public sector, which includes general government and public corporations, did not announce any new projects.
Last year, the public sector accounted for 83% of the total, reflecting projects worth R199.8 billion by the general government and R290.7 billion by public corporations.
The private sector accounts for all new projects announced in the first half of 2025, which includes major tech players.
Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is the largest investor in the transport, storage, and communications sector, with Project Waterworth accounting for 75% of the R26.4 billion worth of planned projects.
The initiatives involve developing a 50,000 sqm global subsea cable system linking the US, India, Brazil, South Africa and other strategic regions to support AI and data infrastructure.
Meta is not the only “Magnificent Seven” company pumping funds into South Africa. Microsoft is also investing in its Al R5.4 billion cloud infrastructure expansion.
South Africa’s newest fuel giant, Astron Energy, is investing R6 billion to upgrade its Cape Town refinery. Cement giant PPC is also expanding its Riebeeck West facility at a cost of R3 billion.
The largest overall project is Earth & Wire’s R40 billion “Energy Fields” project, which will blend 700 MW of wind, 800 MW of solar PV and 400 to 500 MW of battery energy storage.
Roughly 63% of the new private sector projects are energy-related, underscoring the structural shift toward renewable energy and the central role of energy security in driving fixed investment activity.
“The momentum reflects continued efforts to tackle South Africa’s energy crisis and move away from coal-fired generation,” said Nedbank.
Other energy projects include the Overberg and Ishwati Emoyeni wind farms, Photon Energy’s concentrated solar PV plant with thermal hydrostorage and the Khauta solar project.
The second project overall is SUISO’s R31.5 billion coal-to-fertiliser facility in Kriel. The project aims to produce 1.5 million tons of nitrogen-based fertilisers annually, reducing reliance on imported fertilisers.
Other significant investments include DRDGOLD’s expansion of its Withok tailings facility, Exxaro’s renewable energy project in the Karoo and Sasol’s R1 billion upgrade of its Twistdraai export coal plant.
Looking ahead
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa and Microsoft President Brad Smith
Nedbank said that renewable energy will remain a key investment focus, but momentum will likely slow in the near term.
Capacity constraints within the national grid and limited transmission infrastructure have started to weigh on new project activity.
That said, implementing the National Transmission Development Plan could unlock a new wave of energy investment over the medium-to-longer term.
Interest rate cuts will lift domestic demand more meaningfully, gradually absorb spare capacity, and encourage firms to consider expansion.
“That said, global headwinds, including weaker external demand and lower commodity prices resulting from the unfolding tariff debacle, pose a downside risk,” said Nedbank.
“Elevated public debt, constrained fiscal space and continued uncertainty over the government’s ability to implement reforms could further weigh on private sector confidence and discourage investment.”
The private sector will likely remain cautious until the government implements its large-scale public infrastructure projects in water, energy, and logistics.
Nedbank expects a mild recovery in investment as the year progresses, driven by the implementation of public sector projects, improved financing conditions and the modest recovery in domestic demand.
“However, this is unlikely to lift investment significantly over the year. Despite pockets of improvement, the underlying conditions for broad-based investment growth remain weak.”
Major projects
Project NameR millionMajor IndustryInfrastructure TypeEnergy Fields40 000Electricity, gas and waterDistribution of electricityCoal-to-fertiliser and methanol project31 500Mining and quarryingCoal & ligniteMeta Project Waterworth20 000Transport, storage and communicationTelecommunicationOverberg Wind Farm13 000Electricity, gas and waterDistribution of electricityConcentrated solar PV plant and thermal hydrostorage project11 557Electricity, gas and waterDistribution of electricityDRDGOLD Gold Recovery Expansion (Vision 2028)8 000Mining and quarryingGold & uranium miningAstron Energy Refinery Upgrade6 000ManufacturingPetroleum refineriesMicrosoft AI & Cloud Infrastructure Build-out5 400Transport, storage and communicationTelecommunicationIshwati Emoyeni Wind Farm4 900Electricity, gas and waterDistribution of electricityKarreebosch Wind Farm4 700Mining and quarryingCoal & ligniteKhauta south solar PV project3 200Electricity, gas and waterDistribution of electricityPPC cement plant3 000ManufacturingOther non-metallicSedibeng malting facility2 085ManufacturingBeveragesCritical mineral refining facility project1 778ManufacturingOther non-metallicOlympus Sandton mixed-use residential and retail development1 000Finance, real estate and financial and business servicesOwn or rental basisSasol Twistdraai Brownfield Destoning Plant Upgrade1 000Mining and quarryingMining servicesN4 toll route upgrade1 000Transport, storage and communicationOther land transport
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