BRICS Bank mulls loans in SA currency
Survé urges New Development Bank to fund private sector initiatives
BRAZIL, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) welcomed the New Development Bank’s (NDB) plans to provide funding in local currency, adding that loans already provided in the past three years have far exceeded the pace of other multilateral banking groups.
Chairperson of the BRICS Business Council chapter in South Africa, Dr Iqbal Survé, called for the NDB to deepen its co-operation and support of private sector projects.
He told delegates that South Africa’s state-owned enterprises were undergoing serious constraints and changes.
“Sometimes while transition happens, they cannot easily take on debt. It is important to make it easier for the bank to engage with these institutions,” Survé said.
The bank should consider lending capital to private sector institutions, he added.
Survé also encouraged inter-BRICS private sector co-operation, which would involve BRICS countries working together on projects, and receiving joint loans from the bank.
It was important for the BRICS countries to work together and accelerate projects, as the fourth industrial revolution had already had an enormous impact on the world, he pointed out.
“The fourth industrial revolution is disrupting business much faster than anyone expected. It is the single business disruptor of existing business practices,” Survé said.
He called on the NDB to commission a unit to specifically research the funding and support of technology companies.
“The bank should look at how to fasttrack the BRICS countries to commit to transfers in their support of technology companies. There are huge opportunities for the bank to carve out a niche for itself here,” he said.
Survé said there was a need for a team of researchers to examine what kind of projects in industrial revolution would suit the BRICS countries.
The high cost of projects make it impossible for countries to participate in the world economy, Survé added.
Xian Zhu, chief executive of the BRICS Development Bank, said he was making a commitment to all the BRICS countries to reach out to them to leverage on “our limited resources to try to adequately meet the huge demand for infrastructure in member countries”.
Paulo Cesar Silva da Souza, the Brazilian BRICS Business Council chairperson, said they were looking into establishing a NDB office in Brazil. “We want to establish a NDB office in Brazil. The Brazilian chapter is interested in exploring the bank and incorporating new members from Latin America.”