JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa recorded reduced foreign direct investment inflows of 26 billion rand ($1.40 billion) in the third quarter of 2023, from 53.8 billion rand in the second quarter, central bank data showed on Thursday.
The South African Reserve Bank said in its Quarterly Bulletin that the inflows were due to non-resident parent entities granting loans and increasing their equity stakes in domestic subsidiaries over the period.
Portfolio investments showed a larger outflow of 41.9 billion rand in the third quarter compared to outflows of 4.6 billion in the second quarter of 2023.
The central bank added that this was due to a public entity redeeming a $1 billion international bond.
In October, the World Bank approved a $1 billion loan to South Africa to help tackle the ongoing power crisis.
Africa’s most industrialised nation has had the worst power outages on record this year, with rolling blackouts leaving households and businesses without power for up to 10 hours a day.
($1 = 18.6086 rand)
(Reporting by Kopano Gumbi and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo)