Nedbank’s annual capital expenditure (capex) listings have revealed that Vodacom has emerged as the leading private investor in planned fixed investment projects.
The listing showed that fixed investment projects increased to R705.6-billion in 2025, up 16% from R606.2-billion in the previous year.
This improvement was driven by a surge in private sector Capex announcements, which increased sharply from R116.2-billion to R382-billion.
Vodacom leads planned private investment projects with its R85.2-billion “Vision 2030” programme.
Five-year plan
The five-year plan is aimed at expanding and modernising South Africa’s digital infrastructure through extensive network upgrades and an accelerated rollout of 5G technology.
According to the listing, investment will span major urban areas, townships and deep rural areas to drive economic growth and inclusion.
Port of Gauteng made a R50-billion investment for a 1 400-hectare private inland port project led by NT55 Investments.
MTN has also invested R45-billion for the National Network Investment programme to modernise and extend its infrastructure.
Other notable projects include Project Waterworth, a R20-billion plan to build a 50 000km global subsea cable linking major regions worldwide, R5.4-billion for Microsoft AI & Cloud Infrastructure Build-Out, and Trans African Concession’s R1-billion upgrade of the N4 toll route.
Despite Vodacom’s prominence, the report shows that the electricity, gas and water sector remains the largest overall contributor to planned investment. Projects in this sector totalled R415.6 billion in 2025.
Eskom’s five-year infrastructure overhaul at R320-billion dominates the sector at 77%.
Eskom plans to spend around R139.5-billion on generation, roughly R132-billion on strengthening and expanding the transmission network, and R44-billion on distribution upgrades.
Other significant energy investments include Earth & Wire’s Energy Fields project, the Kroonstad photovoltaic cluster and the Overberg wind farm.
Mining and quarrying projects triple
The private sector outperformed the general government in planned fixed investment projects. Government investments declined last year compared to 2024.
The report shows that 2024 recorded R204-billion from general government and this included a R43.7-billion public housing and community development programme and R35.8 billion for phase two of the Rooiwaal wastewater project.
Mining and quarrying projects tripled year on year, led by SUISO’s R31.5-billion coal-to-fertiliser plant in Kriel, which aims to produce 1.5-million tonnes of nitrogen-based fertilisers annually.
Additional activity includes R32-billion in mining expansions and Sasol’s R1-billion upgrades to its Twistdraai export plant.
Manufacturing investment remained muted, with projects totalling R13.4-billion. The largest is Astron Energy’s R6-billion upgrade of its Cape Town refinery to comply with Clean Fuels II standards by 2027.
