A proposed funding boost from a corporate company could assist the City of Tshwane in connecting its citizens to free Wi-Fi sooner than expected. The cash injection to accelerate the Stellenbosch-based non-profit organisation Project Isizwe was provided by Mergence Investment Managers. Their manager for infrastructure investments‚ Kasief Isaacs‚ said: “Mergence Investment Managers seeks to invest in projects that will make a social impact as well as provide a competitive return for our institutional clients”.This will take the form of a social impact bond - a form of funding that gives service providers access to upfront resources to tackle social problems by tapping into private funding. However‚ the programmes must be approved by government.Isaacs said Mergence’s involvement in the Tshwane free Wi-Fi project is to provide capital. This investment will allow Isizwe to speed up its delivery by funding the interim capital‚ while allowing the municipality to provide money when agreed outcomes are fulfilled.“Most importantly‚ the funding significantly reduces the risk for the municipality‚ enabling a demonstrable shift towards an outcomes-based procurement model‚” he said.Project Isizwe’s CEO Zahir Khan said municipalities had been “burnt” through non-delivery and misallocated spending.“Through the private sector‚ or non-profits such as ourselves‚ a combination of service delivery guarantees and upfront funding from the commercial sector can ensure payment by government only upon successful outcomes‚” he said.Earlier this year Project Isizwe breached the half million mark in terms of usership. The project‚ which began in 2013‚ is currently in a phase that aims to connect 700‚000 users.The municipality has a population of approximately 2.9 million people...