Newly-appointed chief operating officer of DBSA, Heinz Weilert, is totally familiar with working in a banking environment. Previously a divisional director of Nedbank Corporate, responsible for strategy and marketing portfolio in Nedbank Corporate, which includes the African subsidiaries, property finance, business and corporate banking, he says that the move from one banking environment to another has many similarities. But the unique objectives of the DBSA distinguish it from commercial financial institutions – it has the mandate to assist in meeting the development needs of the country and the SADC region. “The difference is that DBSA gets involved in the preproject phase and transforms an unbankable project into one that is viable. And then the commercial funders become interested and will step in.”

Appointed in October 2007, Weilert has already identified one of the key challenges of DBSA as ensuring sufficient skilled human resources are recruited /developed that will allow it to meet its delivery targets. He says that in order to deliver across the board, diverse skills including financial, engineering and town planning as well as industry sector specific skills are needed.

He emphasises it is essential to keep focussed on the projects where DBSA can make a difference and to ensure that all role players are clear on what has to be delivered and when. “Expectations should be communicated so all parties know their agreed role in the delivery.” One of the key tools he sees in fulfilling the bank’s mandate is to have people on the ground in execution of projects. “Otherwise money is not used effectively and projects do not become self-sustainable.” 

Weilert describes the bank’s relationship with its sole shareholder, being the SA government, as a good one. “The board of directors is the interface between government and the bank and makes sure we can deliver on what the shareholder has set as our targets and remain relevant in a changing environment.”

As a development finance institution, the bank’s success is measured differently to other lending organisations. Weilert says the ultimate measure of success is when a project has been developed to the point of being self-sustainable and the commercial banks are then willing to come on board. DBSA is then able to withdraw and reinvent itself, having successfully fulfilled its role as catalyst.”

One future project that excites Weilert is the establishment of the Local Economic Development Fund, scheduled for 2008. This initiative aims to establish basic infrastructure in areas with inherent growth potential, establishing a foundation so the commercial banks will then be keen to participate. Through DBSA funding to put basic services in place, a municipality can become self-sustainable as and when it has the capacity to collect rates and taxes. An area previously limited because of lack of infrastructure and institutional capacity, becomes self-sustainable and can start realising its growth potential enabling the involvement of external commercial lenders.

Weilert says that pilot areas for this project still need to be identified, after which multiple models will be rolled out to prove the concept works. “Thereafter, other parties and facilitators ideally suited to this involvement can take over from us or participate in the roll-out.”

As COO, Weilert sees part of his role as directing and focussing the bank to optimally use its available resources. “The various units and clusters within the organisation each have their own innovative ideas, but these need to be combined together in order to maximise effectiveness. There is a wealth of information located throughout the bank, but we need to work more closely together and present ourselves as one interface to the client. The ideas also need to be practically executable if we are to make a big impact on development. “

Weilert sees 2008 and beyond as major opportunities for growth. “We will keep our broad focus on energy, water, transport infrastructure and ICT sectors. Numerous complementary projects, including the establishment of the national skills database, 2010 Soccer World Cup, Gautrain and Siyenza Manje (focussed on municipal infrastructure) as well as the Knowledge Management Africa initiative, enable us to fulfil our role and help transform the country and be relevant to developments on the continent.”