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Infrastructure and energy have become the leading focus of private equity fundraising in South Africa, attracting an increasing share of investor commitments to local private equity funds.Infrastructure and energy-focused funds attracted 71% of capital committed by investors to South African private equity funds in 2024, up from 56% in 2023 and 45% in 2022, according to the latest Private Equity Industry Survey by the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (Savca). The survey, which includes fundraising and investment data covering the three years to 2024, shows the sector also accounted for 40% of the value of all private equity investments completed during 2024, making it the industry’s largest investment category. That means four out of every 10 rand invested by private equity firms last year went into infrastructure and energy businesses and projects.Looking ahead, Savca CEO Anusha Naidu said the sustained growth in fundraising over the past three years suggests investor interest reflects a longer-term shift rather than short-term market conditions. “The sector continued to benefit from rising demand for long-term investment opportunities, infrastructure modernisation and the growing role of private capital in financing economic development.”She said continued policy reform, a pipeline of investment-ready projects and regulatory certainty, will be important in sustaining that momentum.Savca CEO Anusha Naidu. Picture: Supplied (Supplied) International investors accounted for 64% of all capital raised by South Africa’s private equity industry in 2024, up from 59% the previous year. However, the survey does not provide a breakdown of how much of that capital was committed specifically to infrastructure and energy-focused funds.Naidu said the data shows investors are not waiting on the sidelines.“Capital is already flowing into infrastructure opportunities, showing growing confidence in the sector’s long-term investment potential.”While the survey does not provide a breakdown by infrastructure subsector, it says renewable and clean energy projects have helped drive investment activity, supported by government initiatives such as the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan.It also cites transactions involving fibre infrastructure, energy-as-a-service platforms and energy generation businesses as examples of activity across the market. Energy-as-a-service platforms typically provide services such as solar power, battery storage and energy management through long-term service contracts rather than outright equipment sales.The survey attributes stronger investment activity during 2024 to improving macroeconomic conditions, including easing inflation, lower interest rates, improved business confidence following the 2024 general election, and the improvement in electricity supply. Naidu said turning investor commitments into completed projects across energy, electricity transmission, water and digital infrastructure will depend on continued policy reform, regulatory certainty and a stronger pipeline of investment-ready projects.
