South Africa Roads Agency Plans Return to Bond Market, CEO Says

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The South African National Roads Agency Ltd. will lift a self-imposed moratorium on accessing the bond market but will first approach private investors for funds, its chief executive officer said.

The state-owned company known as Sanral hasn’t issued any public debt since 2016, after revenue collapsed amid a boycott of electronic tolls, colloquially referred to as e-tolls. The company said it’s reluctant to tap the market until a government probe into its business model has been completed. E-tolling has faced resistance from motorists since its inception in 2013.

“Our board has rescinded the moratorium it imposed on raising funds from the bond market last year after there were concerns about Sanral being a going concern,” CEO Skhumbuzo Macozoma told reporters Tuesday in the capital, Pretoria. “However, we are not immediately going back to the bond market until the uncertainty around the e-tolls issue is finally sorted out, but we are engaging with some private investors.”