Private sector investment in developing country infrastructure projects rebounded in 2017 by 37% according to a new report released by the World Bank yesterday. However, investment commitment levels remained 15% below the average for the past five years.
Sub-Saharan Africa was the only region that registered a decline in investments - recording the second lowest level in ten years.
‘The Annual Update of the Private Participation in Infrastructure Database’ report revealed that 52 developing countries had been the beneficiaries of private investment in infrastructure - up from 37 in 2016, while 20 mega-projects with an average size of US$2.4 billion accounted for 51% of the total investment. Government support also increased from 94 projects in 2016 to 135 in 2017.
“Coupled with data demonstrating that governments are playing a bigger role in supporting these public-private investments, this shows that we are going further to meet the infrastructure needs of growing populations by bringing more resources to the table,” said World Bank Infrastructure, PPPs & Guarantees director, Jordan Schwartz.
East Asia and the Pacific captured more than half of the total investments, overtaking Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) for the first time as the LAC’s share dropped to its lowest level in ten years.
Investment in the Middle East and North Africa tripled from 2016 levels, with investment in South Asia almost doubling.
