African Development Bank sets course to close infrastructure gap with Board approval of its first public private partnerships strategic framework – African Business

The African Development Bank Groupwww.AfDB.orgWith the approval of its first strategic plan for the development public-private partnerships, ), ) has taken an important step to address the infrastructure gap within African countries. This approval was given by the Bank Group Board of Directors on 19 January 2022.

Africa’s infrastructure investment gap is estimated at more than $100 billion per year, affecting the living conditions of Africans and the continent’s global competitiveness. Experts in banking say public-private partnership is a great way to increase private sector investments in Africa and improve efficiency in the development and operation infrastructure assets.

Bank Group President Akinwumi A. Adesina said the new framework would form the bedrock of the Bank’s engagements in the infrastructure sector. “This eagerly awaited strategic framework will go a long way to enabling the Bank to provide much required assistance for the development and implementation of public-private partnerships in our regional member countries, and we look forward to its success.”

Public-private partnerships are an important feature of infrastructure projects being funded by the Bank. These include several transport and energy sector projects throughout the continent.

To achieve its development ambitions, the Bank’s Public-Private Partnership Strategic Framework is rooted in three pillars that will provide an end-to-end solution to member countries, from upstream to downstream. Pillar 1 covers upstream support. This is more specifically to ensure a conducive environment and increase capacity in member countries. Pillar 2 will provide midstream support. This includes transaction advisory services and project preparation to assist in structuring projects for financial closure. The final pillar includes downstream support to finance investment projects.

The Bank will create an instrument that is dedicated to supporting pillars one & two. It will be known as the Africa Public-Private Partnership Development Fund.

The Bank’s strategic framework streamlines Bank-wide public/private partnership efforts across all departments and provides guidance on financial resources and instruments. It recommends a selective approach to operations and markets, based on the Bank’s comparative advantage in Africa’s infrastructure sector, its convening power on the continent, and the level of maturity of the different markets respectively.

The Bank’s Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization Complex will coordinate the implementation of the framework over a 10-year period, starting in 2022. Solomon Quaynor is the Complex’s Vice President. He said that the framework would help African countries increase their private sector investments in the economic sector. This includes transport, energy and ICT. The social sector also includes healthcare and education. It will ensure better debt sustainability and management, efficiency, innovation, and competitiveness, and increase their economies’ competitiveness.

“The current global and African context, widening infrastructure gap and limited fiscal space, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, among other factors, builds a strong case for the Bank to scale up its support for public-private partnerships, to crowd in more private sector investment in both economic and social infrastructure, and provides a foundation for the Bank to become a leading voice and financier of public-private projects in Africa.”

The Bank will engage clients, partners, and start dialogue with member countries to establish priority areas.

Distributed by APO Group for African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Contact:
Gershwin Wanneburg
Communication and External Relations Department
African Development Bank
email: [email protected]

Kouame Andre
Infrastructure and Partnerships Division
email: [email protected]

About the African Development Bank Group
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It is composed of three distinct entities, the African Development Bank(AfDB), African Development Fund(ADF)and the Nigeria Trust Fund. The AfDB has an office in Japan and is present in 41 African states.

For more information: www.AfDB.org