Minister of Small Business Lindiwe Zulu Minister of Small Business Lindiwe Zulu
Nicolette Dirk
THE Brics Bank was created to address the legacy of impoverishment, poverty and lack of access to the nation’s resources, Minister of Small Business Lindiwe Zulu said.
Zulu spoke at the MCom in Development Finance forum at the UCT Graduate School of Business yesterday.
The theme of the forum was the role of development finance for empowering the continent. She said the Brics bank was one of the ways to reverse the legacy of centuries of underdevelopment.
“We expect the bank to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in a way that will complement existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth,” she said.
But MCom development finance student Refilwe Moloto said currently the Brics bank has $50 billion – and will ultimately have $100 billion.
“This is a substantial amount but it is less than the South African government’s pension fund,” said Moloto.
She added that only 20 percent of Brics’ money is allocated for South Africa, which is by far “the baby brother” in the Brics arrangement.
The votes and the contribution may be equal at the moment, but of the contingency reserve China contributes 41 percent, 18 percent each from Russia, Brazil and India and five percent from South Africa,” Moloto said.
Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZEDTC) acting director and MCom development finance student Howard Choga was also one of the speakers at the forum.
He addressed the issue of food security on the continent, which he described as an issue of life and death.
“The agriculture output for Africa could almost double by 2020, but this is where investment is required.
“Without food security investment, we can only imagine what will happen with the exploding population,” he warned.
nicolette.dirk@inl.co.za