South Africa stands at a potential turning point: a sweeping redesign of its financial architecture could unlock up to 5 trillion rand (about US $293 billion) in new funding for infrastructure and clean-energy projects, according to a new report prepared for the National Planning Commission (NPC).

The NPC argues that the current financial framework composed of a tangled network of banks, pension funds, development finance institutions, households, and state-owned enterprises lacks the mechanisms to channel private and institutional capital into long-term investments like infrastructure or renewable energy.

By reorganizing how capital is mobilized and supervised, including bringing major development finance institutions under more unified regulation, incentivizing pension funds to invest domestically instead of offshore, and improving risk-management frameworks … South Africa could dramatically expand its capacity to fund public-goods projects. This capital could help modernize transport, power, water, and clean-energy infrastructure … sectors long held back by underinvestment and inefficiency.

If implemented, the reforms could address long-standing structural problems, including ageing infrastructure, chronic energy shortages, bottlenecks in rail and port systems, and weak investor confidence … generating jobs, boosting growth and improving competitiveness.