The State-owned Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has, from October 1, appointed Mohale Rakgate as its new group executive for the Infrastructure Fund, which has been established by government to support an accelerated roll-out of economic and social infrastructure.

Infrastructure is expected to feature strongly in South Africa’s economic recovery plan, which will be considered by Cabinet following consultations with business, labour and community representative at the National Economic Development and Labour Council in August and September.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has already stated that the country’s recovery from Covid-19 should be “infrastructure led”, announcing at the inaugural Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa in June that shovel-ready projects would be prioritised so that “ground is broken as soon as possible”.

Launching the multibillion-rand Mooikloof Mega City human settlements projects on October 5, the President added: “The economic recovery plan that I will be unveiling in the very near future will provide greater insight into how government plans to revive the economy. The emphasis will be on infrastructure as a flywheel for economic recovery, with an additional focus on job creation.”

Prior to his appointment, Rakgate was DBSA’s group executive for project preparation, having joined the DBSA in 2007, following a stint at the International Finance Corporation in Washington DC.

Besides heading the development finance institution’s project preparation, he was also instrumental in establishing the bank’s project and programme development capabilities which resulted in national schemes such as the independent power producer procurement programme, as well as the student housing and digital connectivity programmes.

He also led the establishment of the climate and environmental finance unit, as well as the scaling up of the DBSA’s municipal infrastructure planning programmes.

In August, the DBSA signed a memorandum of agreement with the National Treasury and the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure confirming its mandate to establish and manage the fund.

Through the fund, government aims to transform the State’s approach to the financing of infrastructure projects by reducing fragmentation, improving resource efficiency and enhancing the speed and quality of delivery.

Rakgate will be responsible for setting up the Fund through a dedicated implementation unit that will be housed at the DBSA and facilitating the financial structuring, procurement and implementation of priority blended-finance projects and programmes.

Rakgate holds a BCom degree from the University of Limpopo, a postgraduate certificate in management from University of London, and an MSc degree in Global Finance from HKUST-NYU Stern. He also completed an advanced management programme from Harvard Business School, as well as the project and infrastructure programme from London Business School.