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At the G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting in Pretoria from 21-22 May, the Global Infrastructure Hub and PPIAF presented progress on IWG’s Priority One: “Developing investable infrastructure pipelines and addressing data gaps”.
In 2018, after 3 years of droughts, the city of Cape Town in South Africa faced severe water shortages. Dam reservoir capacity had dropped to critical levels and the city was fast approaching “Day Zero” of no water availability. Desalination, new dams, strict water usage limits – all solutions were on the table. Solving the water crisis in Cape Town required a variety of activities, including gray infrastructure, behavioral change, pricing changes, and a massive communications campaign. Among all these approaches, one important contribution was surprising: the removal of invasive plant species.
World Bank toolkit on best practices in gender equality and infrastructure PPPs.
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After decades of private sector growth, private capital holds most available global finance. The rise of private wealth coincided with the decline of public wealth in developed countries, which now hold zero or even negative shares in total wealth due to significant public debt burdens, according to the 2022 World Inequality Lab Report. Moreover, the 2023 IMF Global Debt Monitor revealed that global public debt reached 90% of GDP in 2022, a dramatic increase from the 30% recorded in the early 1970s.
Last month, Jane Jamieson, the Program Manager for the Quality Infrastructure Investment (QII) Partnership and the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), along with Khafi Weekes, Climate Infrastructure Specialist at PPIAF, and Helen Gall, Monitoring and Evaluation ETC at QII, participated in the Understanding Risk Global Forum in Himeji, Japan. Initiated in 2010, this year’s Forum was the largest yet, attracting over 1,700 Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) experts and practitioners from across the globe. PPIAF and QII had a strong showing at the Forum, participating in five events, including three plenaries and two workshops.
The Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) held its Partnership Council Meeting in Vienna, Austria this June. This meeting brought together PPIAF’s esteemed donors and welcomed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the newest donor to PPIAF with their contribution that has supported the integration of the Global Infrastructure Hub (GI Hub) into the PPIAF family. Over the two days, PPIAF engaged in a packed agenda where donors expressed appreciation for the impactful and relevant programs PPIAF delivers.
The G20 Brazilian Presidency and the Australian Co-Chair held the third Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, in June, which consisted of five sessions: Linking Infrastructure and Poverty Reduction, Delivering Cross-Border Infrastructure, Financing Climate-Resilient Infrastructure, Infrastructure Global Trends, and Mitigating Exchange Rate Risks. Henri Blas, Program Lead for the Global Infrastructure Hub, participated in session four of the meeting focused on Infrastructure Global Trends.
The African Infrastructure Fellowship Program (AIFP) recently announced its 2024 cohort of fellows, which includes 18 participants from across the continent and brings together a diverse and talented group of individuals with backgrounds in engineering, finance, law, and more. This year saw over 200 applications for the program.
The Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) in collaboration with the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF), Egyptian Ministry of Finance, African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank and the World Association of PPP Units and Professionals (WAPPP) will be hosting a series of webinars to provide valuable insights into PPPs.
Non-private institutions, such as multilateral development banks, play a critical role in catalyzing private infrastructure investment in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). One avenue of support is through the direct co-financing of projects, with over half (55%) of total LMIC investment involving non-private co-financing in 2022. However, the share of LMIC investment financed by the private sector alone has been increasing over time. This has been driven by the renewables sector, reflecting increasing investor confidence in a maturing market as well as relatively smaller project sizes. In general, private sector investors are less likely to require co-financing support from non-private entities in larger LMIC markets, such as Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.
Infrastructure Monitor insights
60% of infrastructure assets reporting to GRESB in 2023 currently have a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target aligned to net zero. However, these net zero targets may not be ambitious enough. Only a third of assets have a target that is science-based or aligned to a net zero-targeting framework. Further, targets tend to capture only Scope 1 and 2 emissions (omitting Scope 3 emissions) and be location, rather than market-based. However, regional variances exist, with Europe leading the way in Scope 3 and market-based net zero targeting.
The PPIAF team recently participated in the annual #Infra4Dev Conference in Rabat, Morocco. Henri Blas, Ludovic Delplanque, and Luciana Guimaraes Drummond e Silva each engaged in panel sessions during this two-day event, sharing knowledge insights and resources on various topics, including the global infrastructure financing landscape, PPP project preparation, and integrating gender into PPPs.
Last week, the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) hosted a webinar on “Building Strong PPP Institution in Developing Countries”. This webinar followed a global review undertaken by PPIAF to better understand the drivers of success in public-private partnership (PPP) programs. This webinar focuses on the role of contract management in PPPs.
In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), around three-quarters of private investment in infrastructure is conducted in foreign currencies, most commonly USD, and only a quarter in local currencies. Brazil dominates local currency transactions in LMICs and has driven a trend increase in the share of local currency transactions in LMIC investment since 2016.
The World Bank and the Global Infrastructure Hub (GI Hub) are pleased to announce that the GI Hub will soon be joining The World Bank's Infrastructure Practice Group as an associated trust fund to the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF)
The World Bank and the GI Hub announced the GI Hub will join The World Bank’s Infrastructure Practice Group as an associated trust fund to the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) . In connection with this shift, the Global Infrastructure Hub will cease to operate as a standalone not-for-profit organisation.
Regional private investment in infrastructure has seen divergent trends in the post-COVID era, with Western Europe and North America emerging as the two strongest performers, followed by Latin America. Meanwhile Asia, while maintaining relatively stable investment as a share of regional GDP, has experienced the sharpest decline in its share of global private investment in infrastructure, as Western Europe and North America expand their shares. Other regions have seen weaker investment in the post-COVID era (Africa, Oceania, Middle East), or remained stagnant (Eastern Europe).
Climate change poses a significant threat to infrastructure, with rising sea levels, extreme weather phenomena, and escalating temperatures posing substantial physical risks. These hazards can lead to the degradation of crucial infrastructure assets, undermining social, economic, and environmental stability. Recent analysis by EDHECInfra, as featured in the Global Infrastructure Hub's Infrastructure Monitor report, underscores the scale of the situation. Projections based on current climate and policy scenarios indicate that by 2050, infrastructure assets could see a net value decline of 4.4% on average, and up to 26.7% in the most severe scenarios. This depreciation is a direct consequence of the lack of resilience of global infrastructure to the effects of climate change. The consequences of inaction are far-reaching, affecting not just the financial performance of assets, but also the economic, environmental, and social fabric of communities worldwide. One promising strategy to mitigate these risks involves the adoption of a systemic resilience metrics (SRM) framework tailored specifically to infrastructure.
The Global Infrastructure Hub is negotiating new, long-term partner hosting of its activities to deliver enduring impact.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0) presents a significant opportunity for digital transformation in the infrastructure (architecture, engineering, and construction) industry. This sector, traditionally reliant on manual labor, mechanical technology, and traditional business models, has seen limited innovations in productivity compared to many other global industries. However, new digital technologies, particularly InfraTech solutions like drone technology, offer a promising pathway to revolutionize this industry.
