{"id":869892,"date":"2026-08-12T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=869892"},"modified":"2026-08-12T14:52:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T12:52:18","slug":"r580-billion-blow-for-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/869892\/r580-billion-blow-for-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"R580 billion blow for South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa has seen the value of announced investment projects plummet by 81%\u2014or R580 billion\u2014from 2025, with R137.7 billion being committed in the first half of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data comes from Nedbank’s capital expenditure project listing for the first half of 2026, which indicated a sharp decline in planned projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nedbank\u2019s listing shows a sharp decline in fixed investment plans in the first half of 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The value of new projects announced during the first half decreased to an annualised R137.7 billion, an 81% drop\u2014or R580 billion\u2014from the R718.5 billion recorded in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drop in announced projects comes amid a push by President Cyril Ramaphosa to encourage investment, which is a key part of his plan to drive economic growth in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an address at the 2026 South Africa Investors Conference, Ramaphosa said, “We are embarking on the largest and most ambitious cycle of infrastructure investment in our country\u2019s history.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Infrastructure is the flywheel that propels growth. It boosts productivity and trade and reduces the cost of doing business.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, the total amount committed to project development in South Africa for 2026 has dropped to its lowest amount since 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decline has come from both the public and private sectors, with only two public-sector projects announced for the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Private sector projects account for approximately R107 billion of the R137.7 billion planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the sharp decline, overall gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) is expected to still rise marginally in 2026, just a lot slower than anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Nedbank, the outlook for private sector fixed investment remains uncertain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although structural constraints and fiscal risks have eased noticeably, the group noted that heightened downside risks to growth are likely to make firms more hesitant to expand operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is especially true in industries where fuel, fertiliser, and other chemicals account for a significant share of operating costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Increased government infrastructure spending and continued investment in renewable energy capacity should help offset some of the drag from a less supportive global environment,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the banking group still expects fixed investment to increase from last year’s low base, although the recovery is likely to be slower and more subdued than initially expected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We forecast modest GFCF growth of 0.6% in 2026 and average growth of 2% over the next three years,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming projects<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The largest project listed is Coca-Cola’s expansion program, which will bring in approximately R17.6 billion in fixed investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project aims to increase the business’s production capacity, strengthen distribution, and expand its activities with local suppliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the Coca-Cola project, many of South Africa’s largest planned investments involve electricity infrastructure, with a focus on renewable energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Renewable energy plans account for roughly half of the total fixed investment plans that were announced in the first half of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include the Notsi and Orkney solar projects, which are worth a combined R7.1 billion, and the REIPPP Bid Window 7 final tranche, valued at roughly R16 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South African real estate was also a major contributor to the planned fixed investment, including projects such as the Paarl Mall upgrade and the Waterfall City Conference Centre and Hotel development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New projects planned in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Project name<\/strong><\/td>Value<\/strong><\/td>Major industry<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Coca-Cola Africa Expansion Programme <\/td>R17.6 billion<\/td>Manufacturing<\/td><\/tr>
REIPPP Bid Window 7 final tranche <\/td>R16 billion<\/td>Electricity, gas and water<\/td><\/tr>
Notsi solar PV project <\/td>R9 billion<\/td>Electricity, gas and water<\/td><\/tr>
Orkney solar PV project<\/td>R3.9 billion<\/td>Electricity, gas and water<\/td><\/tr>
Biotech Africa Expansion <\/td>R3.2 billion<\/td>Manufacturing<\/td><\/tr>
Mercury BESS project <\/td>R1.4 billion<\/td>Electricity, gas and water<\/td><\/tr>
Waterfall City Conference Centre and Hotel development<\/td>R750 million<\/td>Finance, real estate and financial and business services<\/td><\/tr>
Indlovu Logistics Park<\/td>R578 million<\/td>Finance, real estate and financial and business services<\/td><\/tr>
Tecoma Park multiuser development <\/td>R392 million<\/td>Finance, real estate and financial and business services<\/td><\/tr>
Paarl Mall upgrade project<\/td>R270 million<\/td>Finance, real estate and financial and business services<\/td><\/tr>
Quay 7 Superyacht Marina<\/td>R230 million<\/td>Finance, real estate and financial and business services<\/td><\/tr>
DHL Multiuser Distribution Centre<\/td>R220 million<\/td>Transport, storage and communication<\/td><\/tr>
Strandfontein Pavilion refurbishment project (General government)<\/td>R300 million<\/td>Community, social and personal services <\/td><\/tr>
Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ) 100 MW solar PV project (Public corporation)<\/td>R15 billion<\/td>Electricity, gas and water<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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South Africa has seen a staggering 81% drop in announced investment projects in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":866268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2087524604386361529","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2174054920081574","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18610829191000923","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[26140,1293,26139,1799],"class_list":["post-869892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-coca-cola-2","tag-cyril-ramaphosa","tag-fixed-investment","tag-nedbank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869892"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":869981,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869892\/revisions\/869981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}