Donors adopted the NEPAD-IPPF Strategic Business Plan 2022-2026 and pledged new contributions to the Fund

8 November 2022

The NEPAD-Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD–IPPF) held its 35th Oversight Committee meeting on 22 September 2022 through the zoom virtual meeting platform.

NEPAD-IPPF is a Multi-Donor Special Fund hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) launched in June 2002, in response to a call of the G8 countries in Kananaskis (Canada) to address the lack of investment-ready and viable infrastructure projects. Its mandate is to spur regional integration and sustainable infrastructure development on the African continent.

The meeting was attended by the fund's donors (the African Development Bank, Canada, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom), the African Union and the AUDA-NEPAD who gathered to discuss a range of topics regrouped under the meeting theme: Implementation of the NEPAD-IPPF Strategic Business Plan 2022-2026.

The meeting began with the Opening remarks from the African Development Bank delivered by Mr. Suraj Olajide Balogun, Acting Director of NSO and Private Sector Support (PINS), who spoke to the audience on behalf of the Vice President of the Private Sector Infrastructure and Industrialization Complex (PIVP), Mr Quaynor Solomon.

Mr. Balogun first set briefly the context for this 35th OC meeting (i): the NEPAD-IPPF is gearing towards priority areas such as green, climate-smart infrastructure and a stronger focus on attaining the SDGs; (ii): the approval of PIDA-PAP 2 (2021-2030) by African Union Heads of State and Government, has effectively increased demand for project preparation to support Africa’s transformation under AfCFTA, Agenda 2063; (iii): the AfCFTA is now in its second year of implementation with the expectation that it will boost intra- and extra-African trade; (iv): the approval of the Bank Group’s Public Private Partnerships (PPP) Strategic Framework 2021-2031 by the Board of Directors will enable the Bank to provide much required assistance for the development and implementation of PPPs in the RMCs; (v): the impact of COVID-19 pandemic remains a constraint to the infrastructure delivery goals; and also the eruption of the war in Ukraine resulting in high energy costs and rising inflation around the world.

Mr. Balogun thus showed that this meeting was taking place at a very critical juncture, at a time of pressing need, and stressed the need to recapitalize the NEPAD-IPPF to deliver on the African Infrastructure Agenda; He emphasized the importance of increasing project preparation for quality, bankable and sustainable infrastructure projects in Africa.

He took the opportunity to express his pleasure with the upcoming contribution of €14 million to the Fund from Germany and announced a donation of $4 million from the African Development Bank.

"We at the African Development Bank are pleased with the performance of the NEPAD-IPPF, and with the progress, it is making towards achieving its mandate. I am pleased to confirm that our board and management remain fully committed to maintaining our financial support to the fund."

He closed his remarks by commending NEPAD-IPPF donors, the AUC, the AUDA-NEPAD, the RECs and Specialized Institutions for their support and collaboration and the Bank’s Management led by Mr. Mike Salawou, Acting Director of the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department (PICU) and his team.

Taking the floor after Mr. Balogun, Mr. Michael Andres, the OC chair and representative of KFW-Germany expressed his appreciation for the work of the NEPAD-IPPF and the positive cooperation between NEPAD-IPPF and all the donors, and the work of the NEPAD-IPPF. He recalled the deterioration of the economic environment in Africa and the difficulties in financing infrastructure due to the war in Ukraine. He called for a strong NEPAD-IPPF that will well-prepare projects and properly manage the fund's resources.

After these introductory remarks, the participants were then led through a series of presentations of the different items on the agenda. From the discussions that followed, several takeaways resulted:

• Adoption of the NEPAD-IPPF Strategic Business Plan 2022-2026
• As for the implementation of the Management Improvement Action Plan, 94% of all the actions identified in the Midterm Review have been accomplished;

• The Facility needs to deliver against a target, highlight the issues it is facing and how the management is addressing them;

• The commitment capacity of the find as at August 2022 is $4 million;
• In support of the NEPAD-IPPF resource mobilization strategy, donors and the African Union Commission are willing to merge their efforts with the Facility for greater effectiveness in recapitalizing the Fund;

The meeting ended with closing remarks by Mike Salawou, Acting Director of PICU. He especially thanked the OC Chair and Germany for their continuous support of the African infrastructure development agenda. He also thanked the African Union Commission for its political support to NEPAD-IPPF.

He recalled the key role of the NEPAD-IPPF in achieving Agenda 2063 and the strategic role of the Oversight Committee in facilitating the resource mobilization efforts.