ANNUAL REPORTS

Governor’s foreword
4
The past year has seen a concerted reaffirmation of
government’s commitment to realising its vision of a better life
for all South Africa’s people, through equitable and sustained
economic growth, accelerated delivery of social services,
job creation and the reduction of poverty. The five priorities
of government, articulated in 2010, embraces this vision and
outlines the framework and strategic priorities to be pursued
over the short, medium and long term.
The five priorities of government emphasises the pivotal
support role of national development finance institutions in
giving effect to its strategic goals and objectives in areas
such as infrastructure development, leveraging private sector
investment, facilitating investment in the green economy and
promoting regional integration. A cross-cutting imperative is the
creation of sustainable jobs, which presents special challenges
with regard to the selection, design and implementation of
projects, in order to leverage the optimal job creating potential
of investments.
As a major development finance institution, the DBSA has
an important role to play in advancing the country along the
five priorities of government. I am pleased that during 2010 it
has established itself as a centre of excellence for infrastructure
development, pursuing new initiatives and partnerships with
select national departments to accelerate and deepen delivery
in key priority sectors. As such, the Bank is harnessing its
human and financial capital in new and innovative ways, in
order to expand the scope of its activities and enhance the
impact of its interventions in support of national development
priorities. Becoming a centre of excellence for infrastructure
development entails becoming the preferred source of
innovative, integrated and workable infrastructure solutions.
It is encouraging that the DBSA has risen to this challenge
and I am confident that the Bank will now focus its attention on
addressing market failure, with more focus on rural development
and in areas that are underperforming. Its engagement with
government departments will help to accelerate the rollout
of priority infrastructure projects in the health and education
sectors. In the health sector, the Bank is participating in
initiatives to facilitate public-private partnerships in the
provision of hospital infrastructure. The Bank has collaborated
with the Departments of Environmental Affairs and Economic
Development to identify and prioritise projects that would
facilitate the transition towards a green economy. This is in
line with the imperative to adopt a coordinated approach to
infrastructure and service delivery, one that aligns government
bodies and institutions as well as industry.
The design of implementation plans and processes under the
direction of the Departments of Health and Education has been
completed; subject to final sign-off by the respective Ministries,
implementation should start during the second half of the
calendar year. Similarly, the Bank is working in collaboration with
the Departments of Water Affairs, Energy and Transport towards
the implementation of national delivery frameworks, which will
improve coordination in the delivery of major infrastructure.
If the DBSA is to deliver on these and other initiatives, its
capacity must be reviewed and strengthened. I have mandated
the National Treasury to work with the Bank to seek alternative
options for increasing the Bank’s capacity, and I look forward
to seeing these initiatives gain momentum and produce
concrete results in the near future.
The Bank’s new positioning is not limited to the domestic arena.
South Africa’s influence on the continent and in the wider world
is growing. The international community and other African
countries increasingly rely on South Africa for the role it plays
in the development of the continent and the contribution it
makes towards a more balanced global economic order. At the
Presidential level, South Africa is championing cross-border
infrastructure along the North-South Corridor. The country has
also joined the BRIC grouping of emerging economic powers,
and continues to strengthen its bilateral and multilateral
relations with African countries and institutions through
bi-national commissions, among other avenues.
In this context, the DBSA’s international engagements are
evolving. The DBSA has been appointed as South Africa’s
representative bank in the BRICS Banking Mechanism, which
will enable it to further champion infrastructure development and
regional integration in Africa. The Bank is encouraged to continue
playing a pivotal role in driving development and integration
on the continent. The past 18 months have seen extensive
consultation and planning in this regard, which has helped
to ensure that the international repositioning and institutional
innovation are being carried out in partnership with government
as a whole.
It is pleasing to note that the strong operational momentum
established during recent years is being maintained. Despite
having made significant progress, the Bank still faces the
challenge of implementing its new initiatives to work more
closely with government departments, and thus accelerate
delivery and improve capacity to manage infrastructure and
public monies.
The ability to combine its local and international roles offers
a significant growth opportunity for the Bank, especially as
a catalyst for the government’s key objectives, such as job
creation. The Bank’s new role as manager of the national Jobs
Fund will add impetus to its broader developmental goals of
reducing unemployment, inequality and poverty.
The drive to establish the Bank as a centre of excellence for
infrastructure development is showing tangible results and
I will continue to play an active role in ensuring that the
Bank fulfils its expanded mandate. I would like to thank the
Chairman and the Board, the Chief Executive Officer and
executive management, along with the dedicated staff of
the Development Bank for their continued active support of the
government’s mandated delivery objectives.
.
Pravin Gordhan
DBSA DBSA | ANNUAL | ANNUAL REPORT REPORT 2010/11 2010/11