Project preparation facilities network calls for increased co-financing partnerships in infrastructure in Africa

3 May 2018

Original article published on nepadippf.org

Members of the Project Preparation Facilities (PPF) network, met on 10 April 2018 in Abidjan, to share project pipeline information on Africa’s major infrastructure projects. The meeting aimed to promote synergies and collaboration by stimulating co-finacing to facilitate pooling of resources

Participants called for increased co-financing partnerships to increase in infrastructure in Africa so as to increase the stock of well prepared, bankable infrastructure projects which can attract financing.

The PPF Network operates under the framework of the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA), a platform involving donor countries (include Canada, UK, Italy, Japan, Germany, France and the United States) on the one hand, and African countries on the other, whose primary role is to accelerate financing into Africa’s infrastructure through coordinated efforts.

The meeting was attended by among others, the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF); the Service Delievery Mechanism (SDM) of the Programme for Infrastructrure Development in Africa (PIDA); the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF), the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA); the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA); and the U.S. Trade Development Agency (USTDA) among others.

Speaking on the occasion, the Bank’s Director of Infrastructure and Urban Development Department (PICU), Oumarou AMADOU, emphasized the need for shared information particularly on project pipelines so as to adopt a structured approach in increasing the co-financing and spread the resource envelope.

The PPF Network was updated on the AfDB’s new initiative, the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), aimed at providing a platform and market place to crowd-in and accelerate investments into Africa’s infrastructure. There is a growing need to finance Africa’s infrastructure in response to deepening regional integration and trade; increasing industrialization; increasing population and urbanization all of which require smart partnership, to build modern and responsive infrastructure.

For more information, contact: Dr Michele Ruiters, Strategy Division, Development Bank of Southern Africa MicheleR@dbsa.org