South Africa makes the first contribution to the New Development Bank

The South African government has transferred the first 2 billion rands (over US$150 million) to the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) authorised capital, Minister of Finance of South Africa Nhlanhla Nene said. The funds come from the sell-off of the government's stake in the Vodacom mobile operator, he said.

The NDB was launched on 21 July 2015 in Shanghai. The goal of the bank is to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries. The bank will have a dedicated capital of US$50 billion, to be eventually increased to US$100 billion.

Russia's contribution to the NDB will be US$2 billion over seven years.