Kruger National Park operator mulls changing structure to tap markets

The board of South African National Parks (SANParks), which oversees some of the world’s premier nature reserves, will consider whether to change its corporate structure to allow it to borrow directly from capital markets and retain more of its earnings.

A proposal that will examine the case for converting the institution into a different form of company under the rules governing state-owned entities will be tabled at a meeting scheduled for 26 to 28 January.

Read: SA declares national disaster in response to deadly floods

If the board gives the go-ahead, it would still need approval from the environment department and then the National Treasury.

The fact that SANParks is a public entity limits its ability to “unlock the capital markets”, Howard Hendricks, the institution’s managing executive for conservation, said in an interview. “It’s the institutional arrangement that will allow us the flexibility to explore those avenues of funding.”

SANParks runs 21 national parks that together cover about 40 000 square kilometres, according to its website – an area that’s almost the size of Switzerland.

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Among those is the Kruger National Park, which has an abundance of elephant, lion and other animals, and is one of South Africa’s biggest tourist attractions.

The reserve was this month hit by the worst floods since at least 2000, with the deluge damaging lodges, camps and other infrastructure.

The proposed change would give SANParks scope to tap growing demand for financial instruments linked to preserving biodiversity and wild spaces.

Last year, Goldman Sachs Asset Management started its first biodiversity fund for bond investors, and in 2024 JPMorgan Chase & Co said it intended to step up work on designing products for clients interested in exploring the risks and opportunities around the theme of biodiversity.

In South Africa, Rand Merchant Bank has been exploring selling debt to raise money for lion and African wild dog conservation. The instruments could emulate a World Bank-backed bond that pays returns based on the growth of black rhino populations in two parks.

Read: Rand Merchant, South Africa Parks mull conservation, Rhino bonds

Hendricks stressed that any financial arrangements SANParks enters into will also need to benefit communities affected by its activities to ensure there is public support for conservation.

SANParks posted record revenue of R4.1 billion ($250 million) in the year to end March last year.

That exceeded its expenditure by R311 million, a surplus that it’s required to return to the government under its current financial arrangement.

It received almost R1 billion of state funding during the year.

The institution is exploring a range of financial options to sustain its operations, including selling carbon credits and a so-called ‘finance for permanence’ arrangement, whereby donor funding would be used to protect additional land in a manner that generates revenue.

© 2026 Bloomberg

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