job creation

South Africa is set to see new infrastructure projects funded with R23.7 billion from the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

The bank approved a total of R27.5 billion, of which 86.3 percent is dedicated to South Africa for infrastructure projects in the fiscal year ending in March 2012.

The DBSA also took responsibility for the implementation of a R9 billion ‘Jobs Fund’ to create more employment in South Africa and result in 150 000 new jobs.

The African Development Bank (ADB) says it has ploughed about R17.5 billion into small and medium businesses in Africa to create jobs and fight ‘endemic’ poverty.

Disclosing the figure at the Innovation Africa summit, which was held in Cape Town, the bank stated that the continent needs decisive and ambitious leadership, warning that poverty, poor infrastructure development and corruption all hamper the continent's development.

The Jobs Fund, which was established by Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, a year ago, is expected to create 108 000 jobs from its first year of activities.

Gordhan says that the fund is in ‘a piloting phase’ which will help government to understand what it needs before it diversifies and replicates what is taking place.

Meanwhile, head of project origination at the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Xolani Ndungane, which administers the fund, says that finding suitable projects has been more difficult than expected.

The South African office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) and the Black Business Council (BBC) have signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct global studies into local procurement before creating a programme that could boost job creation.

The groups say they decided to create a plan with tangible short-term goals because government’s goal of five-million new jobs in the next decade, contained in its New Growth Path strategy, is in jeopardy.

The Department of Communications says that the 100 percent migration to broadband by 2020 will create one million jobs.

Communications Minister, Dina Pule's projections came at the time when Statistics South Africa announced that unemployment rose to 25.2 percent in the first quarter from 23.9 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

Apart from the 23 500 jobs expected from the manufacture of set-top boxes in the 2012-13 fiscal year, Pule provided no detail on how these one million jobs will be created.