Us Deals Blow To South Africa's Green Energy Plans: Sources

At a meeting earlier this month, US representatives prevented the World Bank-linked Climate Investment Funds from approving a 500-million disbursement to South Africa, two of the people said, asking not to be identified because a public announcement hasn't been made on the matter.

Those funds would have unlocked a further 2.1-billion from multilateral development banks and other sources of financing. Another attempt to approve the payment may be made at CIF meetings in June, four of the people said.

The development has the potential to deepen a fallout between the nations. The administration of President Donald Trump has already halted aid to South Africa, declared its ambassador to the US a "persona non grata", and accused the country of expropriating land. South African authorities haven't confiscated any private land since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Those tensions come on top of a wider US pullback from global climate initiatives.

As of the end of 2024, of the 15 contributors to the CIF, the US is the biggest, having provided 3.8-billion. It's closely followed by the UK at 3.6-billion. Germany, Japan and Canada have each contributed more than 1-billion.