Brand South Africa recently congratulated South Africa’s Minister of Finance, Nhlanhla Nene, who was elected as Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the NDB.

Minister Nene will serve in the position until the end of the next annual meeting of the Board of Governors, which will be held in South Africa next year. Minister Nene, who was named Finance Minister by President Cyril Ramaphosa in February, was elected to the position at the 14h meeting of the bank’s leadership in Shanghai, China.

The NDB is a multilateral development bank established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) in 2014. The bank is mandated to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries.

At the meeting, the bank approved loans to all five member countries totalling $1,6 billion (R20,3 billion). The meeting also approved a $200-million project for the reconstruction of the Durban Container Terminal Berth. This was one of six projects from the five member countries that was approved by the board with loans totalling $1,6 billion, bringing the bank’s total portfolio to more than $5,1 billion. Total approvals for 2018 amount to $1,7 billion.

According to a NDB media statement, the project is aimed at helping Transnet enhance the capacity of its Durban Port, through the rehabilitation of container terminal berths and the upgrading of port infrastructure to provide additional slots for larger vessels.

Brand South Africa’s General Manager for Research, Dr Petrus de Kock, said: “We welcome Minister Nene’s appointment, which comes in a period of an intensified investment drive to achieve the National Development Plan’s investment objectives by President Ramaphosa. Through the BRICS NDB, South Africa will be in a position to further expand infrastructure opportunities for trade.”

The NDB also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on General Cooperation with the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

South Africa’s membership of BRICS has become a vital element of its global economic strategy and is viewed as a catalyst and enabling tool for the pursuit and achievement of South Africa’s foreign policy priorities, including the promotion of the African Agenda, sustainable development, global governance reform and South-South cooperation.