The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) has proposed the establishment of a regional information hub to advertise bankable projects in Africa.
According to a statement released yesterday (Monday), the hub would encourage regional and international investors to commit funds to infrastructure projects on the continent and each country would have a window linked to the centralised hub.
“It would be both a ‘project hub’ and a ‘help desk’ – a centralised IT platform for bankable projects which potential investors can access,” said NEPAD-IPPF coordinator, Shem Simuyemba. “Such a hub could be housed by the AfDB to ensure credibility and confidence by both project owners (governments) and potential investors.”
Simuyemba explained that the hub would not just be a listing of projects, but would show the differentiation of the “financial-readiness” of projects in terms of the key returns that investors looked for. These would include assurance of transparent procurement practices, tenure, risk, returns, availability of co-funding and the depth of local capital markets.
The NEPAD-IPPF is a multi-donor special fund that supports African countries in preparing regional infrastructure projects in energy, transport, and information and communication technology.
