Project finance
Project finance and development funding in Africa
New project finance, construction capital, mining funding, agri funding and development funding all test the same thing: whether a project has been prepared to a standard a credit or investment committee can act on. 36M Capital prepares projects to that standard.
Why funding stalls before it starts
Across South Africa and the wider African market, capital is available through commercial banks, development finance institutions, infrastructure and private equity funds, family offices and blended finance vehicles. What is scarce is projects presented with the land control, approvals, offtake, delivery capability and governance those funders are obliged to test.
Most projects approach funders too early. The concept is sound but the documentation is partial, the delivery route is untested and the financial model has not been stressed. The application is declined for lack of assessable information rather than lack of merit — and a declined file is harder to re-open than a new one.
We work upstream of that moment. 36M Capital originates and prepares opportunities so that when they reach a funder, the questions a credit committee will ask have already been answered with evidence.
Sources of capital
Where new project finance typically comes from
- Commercial banks
- Senior debt against secured cash flows. They test security, sponsor balance sheet, cover ratios and a completed statutory pathway.
- Development finance institutions
- National and multilateral DFIs supporting infrastructure, housing, agriculture, energy and industrial projects with developmental impact alongside a commercial return.
- Infrastructure and private equity funds
- Equity and mezzanine capital for projects at scale, with defined exit horizons and strict governance and reporting requirements.
- Family offices and strategic investors
- Patient capital, often sector-specific, willing to engage earlier where preparation quality and alignment are clear.
- Blended and concessional finance
- Grants, guarantees and first-loss layers that make otherwise marginal development projects bankable when structured deliberately.
- Public and PPP frameworks
- Municipal, provincial and national procurement routes with their own compliance, treasury approval and reporting disciplines.
What funders test
What every funder tests, whatever the sector
- Site or asset control
- Registered title, a signed option, a mineral right or a lease — evidence of control, not intent to acquire.
- Statutory and regulatory pathway
- Land use rights, environmental authorisation, licences and regulator approvals mapped with realistic timelines and dependencies.
- Revenue evidence
- Offtake agreements, tenancy, subsidy allocation or demand data that supports the revenue case independently of the sponsor.
- Delivery capability
- Contractors, operators and technical partners with a record at the proposed scale, and a defensible procurement route.
- Structure and governance
- A clean project entity, resolved shareholding and beneficial ownership, and a financial model that survives sensitivity testing.
- Cost and funding plan
- A costed development budget, an identified capital stack and a clear statement of what each tranche of funding buys.
36M HIP™
How 36M Capital prepares the project
We do not raise capital on your behalf or promise funding outcomes. We prepare the opportunity — screening it, closing evidence gaps, coordinating independent specialists and assembling the documentation set a funder expects — so it can be assessed on its merits.
- 01
Identify
Define commercially relevant opportunities.
- 02
Screen
Assess strategic fit, commercial potential and sponsor capability.
- 03
Shape
Develop the commercial model and delivery strategy.
- 04
Prepare
Coordinate governance, documentation, partnerships and readiness.
- 05
Validate
Assess preparedness for institutional engagement.
- 06
Transition
Introduce mature opportunities into formal capital structuring and transaction processes.
Bringing a project to us
We work with sponsors, developers, landowners, municipalities and operators before capital is approached. Engagements begin with a mutual non-disclosure agreement and a screening of the material you already hold. Gaps are useful signal, not a disqualification.