Balwin Properties Limited (IFC-45275)

Countries
  • South Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Tshwane - Gauteng
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 13, 2024
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Balwin Properties Limited
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Construction
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 55.42 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Mar 13, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Sep 24, 2024

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the proposed project consists of an up to ZAR1 billion (~US$52 million) loan with a 8-year tenor to Balwin Properties Limited to fund Balwin’s original land acquisition and the infrastructure preparatory work and of up to 4,500 apartments at its development, Mooikloof City. This includes the financing of the external bulk infrastructure services such as water, sewer, electricity, roads, and stormwater which is required for the top-structure development of the apartments. The facility will also refinance the existing short-term loans previously taken by Balwin for the project.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s 2012 Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability as the project involves activities with potential limited adverse environmental or social risks and/or impacts that are a few in number, generally site-specific, largely reversible, and readily addressed through mitigation measures. Key E&S issues are: (a) company’s E&S management systems and organizational capacity; (b) adequacy of labor and working conditions, including construction phase; (c) identification and management of E&S risks and impacts, including occupational health and safety (OHS); (d) community security, health and safety (e.g., due to dust, noise and traffic, security management) and (e) stakeholder engagement and external grievance mechanism.  

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

The proposed project involves a 8-year loan of up to ZAR1 billion (~US$52 million) from IFC. It will support the phased development of Mooikloof City by funding Balwin’s original land acquisition, bulk infrastructure investments and the development of up to 4,500 apartments.

IFC's Investment as Approved by the Board: Loan 55.42 million (USD)

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Balwin was established in 1996 and is one of the largest sectional title residential property developer in South Africa focused on development and sale of sectional title apartments. The company has been at the forefront of efforts to close the burgeoning gap of low-to-middle-class housing across different provinces of South Africa. In addition to its residential Build-to-Sell business, Balwin has also established several complimentary businesses that leverages its developments, including fibre installation, rental of apartment units and solar power generation. Since its inception it has successfully completed and sold over 50,000 apartment units and currently develops approximately 2,000 to 3,000 units each year. Balwin also has the largest number of IFC EDGE certifications by any property developer globally with over 22,810 units registered for EDGE certification and with 14,328 of these already EDGE Advanced.

The Company is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the largest shareholders are held by its founder and CEO Stephen Brookes (33.07%), and its Managing Director, Rodney Gray (9.29%). Other shareholders include Reggie Kukama, Non-Executive Director (9.09%); GRE Africa Ltd (7.58%); Nedbank Group (5.49%); Ulrich Gschnaidtner, Chief Projects Officer (1.05%) and Jonathan Bigham, CFO (0.02%). The rest of the shareholding is held publicly. 

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Balwin Properties Limited Client -

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Balwin Properties Limited
Jonathan Bigham
Chief Finance Officer
+27 (11) 450 2818
jonathanb@balwin.co.za
10 Fort Street,Birnam, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2196, South Africa,
https://www.balwin.co.za/

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

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