What are the unique advantages of South Africa?

If you look at the history of other liberation movements that have gone through the same struggles that we have gone through, many of them have had the same situation that we find ourselves in now. A liberation movement often becomes complacent and is unable to change with the times to become a governing party. We’ve seen it with Mexico, India, and Ghana on the African continent. The change of government usually takes between 35 to 50 years and South Africa has taken a far shorter period. This is a product of technology and connectivity. People speak and share more and are more aware of what is happening.

What specific measures are you taking to make this continent more inclusive for all its people?

What I enjoy about what we do when it comes to developing and building infrastructure is that we do it on behalf of our investors and we make sure there is return and sustainability. When I go to my investors, I don’t try and shoot the lights out and offer a 40 or 50% return. I promise them infrastructure returns that are long-term, stable and that will grow. I also promise them, in the context of Africa, a higher growing rate than other regions. Our infrastructure return rates will be higher than that of the United States or Europe with their developed markets.

Infrastructure gives you the ability to attract everything else that would make you competitive and benefit your populace and meet your ambitions.

Infrastructure creates the possibility to develop other industries. Not having the ability to get your goods to market or get the energy to produce things in a cost effective way can hamper one’s success. We can then ask what infrastructure is more attuned to enable the African populace in order to start competing in the international market environment.

We must do what we can improve and better Africa’s value and capability. We need to connect African states the way European states are connected. The way Paris and London are connected, so should Johannesburg, Luanda, Lusaka and Nairobi be connected in the same manner. That connectivity grows your market overnight.

You are in many African countries and all your funding is African capital. How did that come about?

We need to take a long-term view when it comes to Africa. We can’t use a short-term view because you can’t build sustainable infrastructure on that basis.

I like the idea that America wasn’t discovered; it was built. The Rockefellers, the Fords, and the JP Morgans financed energy, power, and railway projects. Those names survive to this day because they built long-term legacy projects. Africa needs to be built but it needs those kind of capital formations to do that.

Do you think that your ability to create sustainable projects is a strength of yours?

Harith believes that if you can’t show investors something sustainable, they will not give us their money and back up our efforts. Renewable energy is becoming cheaper and Africa is going to need entities that will take those new solutions to the people. We need to be responsive to the end consumer to provide solutions that are affordable which makes it possible for them to succeed.

How do you find these projects in these countries?

We need to start finding small-scale solutions for problems. Harith wants to support small-scale entrepreneurs who can tackle those smaller issues.

Harith is looking at railway projects to start connecting Africa’s major cities. I am a big fan of airports and I want to start creating capacity to operate them across the continent in a more efficient manner that is sustainable and fit for purpose.

What is your message of confidence for investors looking at South Africa as a place of hope for the future?

In 2006 we could not do what we are able to do today. When you wanted to raise capital for infrastructure for the size and magnitude we needed, we would hear a lot about corruption, famine, and lack of democracy.

In 2017 the narrative is different. We can now partner up with Nigerians and combine our infrastructure assets. We now have assets across the continent. We have a 320 megawatt wind power project in a remote part of Kenya, adding 18% to Kenya’s energy capacity.

An entity like ours, with a view and a vision, which asks “how can we improve our environment over the next 10 or 20 years?” and invests with that outlook, is an exciting thing.