The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Dialogue on Advancing Infrastructure Development in Africa is a multi-stakeholder consultation aiming at defining concrete policy recommendations for Africa’s leadership that advance infrastructure projects implementation under the umbrella of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).

The dialogue is structured around specific instruments developed by the NEPAD Agency to drive the critical components of infrastructure development on the continent focused on project preparation and the mobilization of private investment.

The 2018 Dialogue will focus on three work streams: (1): How to mobilize African institutional investment for infrastructure development in Africa through the NEPAD 5% Agenda Campaign; (2) Options to scale risk mitigation and operationalize an effective African Guarantee Scheme that enables the mobilization of institutional investment and private finance for African infrastructure projects; and (3): How to create the foundation for the bankability of transboundary projects, including how to enhance the role of the PIDA Service Delivery Mechanism (SDM) in early stage project preparation.

The 2018 Dialogue is a NEPAD initiative led by the Regional Integration, Infrastructure and Trade Program (RIITP) that contributes to other policy sectors such as industrialization and job creation.

Objectives

This two-day meeting will bring together representatives of development finance institutions, private sector experts, Regional Economic Communities, infrastructure project authorities, and Project Owners. The Dialogue will first deliberate on the technical modalities involved in scaling of risk mitigation for private investment in Africa’s Infrastructure, including African institutional investment. Secondly, the meetings will discuss the operational modalities of early stage project preparation to deal the complexity in bringing regional projects to bankability.

In terms of the specific sessions, the first day (25 June) will begin with a session on mobilizing institutional investment for infrastructure development in Africa. The session will build on initial research on the financial potential of Pension and Sovereign Wealth Funds to invest into Africa’s Infrastructure. The day will close with brainstorming on the required steps to scale risk mitigation for infrastructure projects. The second day (26 June) will be devoted to the challenge of project preparation. Starting with a session on regional infrastructure for development and job creation, the day will close with a discussion on how to enhance the bankability of PIDA Projects.

The objectives of the different sessions are provided below.

Session 1: NEPAD 5% Agenda: Mobilizing institutional investment for African infrastructure

The objective of this session is to discuss the financial potential of Pension and Sovereign Wealth Funds to invest into Africa’s Infrastructure, as well as possible implementation strategies and concrete action steps. Downloads:

pdf AU-NEPAD Continental Business Network 5% Agenda Report 2017 (1009 KB)

pdf NEPAD-CBN Report on De-Risking Infrastructure and PIDA Projects in Africa, June 2016 (3.00 MB)

Session 2: Guarantee and Risk Mitigation Scheme enabling institutional investment and private finance of infrastructure projects, funds, and vehicles

The objective of this session is to discuss challenges and modalities towards scaling risk mitigation and an African Guarantee Scheme to enable the mobilization of African pension fund investment for African infrastructure.

Session 3: Regional infrastructure for development and job creation

The objective of this session is to demonstrate the potential of PIDA Projects in terms of job creation and share NEPAD’s approach in estimating the potential for job creation. The session will also facilitate discussions between NEPAD, partners, and stakeholders on the Toolkit and ways it can be used to advance the development and finance of regional infrastructure and job creation.

Session 4: PIDA Service Delivery Mechanism (SDM): Early stage project preparation for infrastructure projects in Africa

The objective of this session is to:

• Inform Project Owners on the operational modalities of the SDM and how they can benefit from its services;

• Through case study presentations, identify best practices in early stage project preparation of cross-border projects;

• Enhance partnerships among Project Preparation Facilities; and

• Discuss key challenges and possible SDM solutions.

Session 5: How to create the foundation for project bankability at the early stage of preparation?

The objective of this session is threefold. First, the session will discuss the complexity of the institutional landscape of transboundary projects and how it affects the investability of such projects. Secondly, through group discussion, the session aims to set forth best practices and practical action steps from experts, DFIs, and investors on ways to achieve bankability. Finally, this session will identify challenges and solutions through case studies from projects in the SADC North South Corridor Programme, with a focus on Railway Projects and the EAC Multimodal Corridor.