S.Africa's Eskom Signs $100 Million Loan From German Bank KfW

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa's Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and KfW, the German development bank, signed a $100 million loan facility to connect renewable-power projects run by independent producers to the grid.

The loan will support expanding the transmission network in the Northern Cape province after the government signed long-delayed power-purchase agreements in April for projects worth $4.1 billion, as well as improvements in other provinces, Eskom said in an emailed statement.

The funding comes at a time when state-owned Eskom is struggling with finances and as President Cyril Ramaphosa tries to draw investment to the country.

“The signing of this loan facility is a positive contribution towards the successful execution of Eskom's 72 billion rand funding requirement,” Eskom Chief Executive Officer Phakamani Hadebe said in the statement. The loan forms part of the first new funding that Eskom intends signing with development finance institutions this financial year, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Burkhardt in Johannesburg at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson

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