Africa Community Forum: Climate-Smart PPPs for a Green, Resilient and Inclusive Recovery

The combination of rapid urbanization and increasing vulnerability due to climate change is putting urgent pressure on the infrastructure of emerging and developing economies (EMDEs). At the same time, these economies have limited resources to cope with disasters, constraints that have been further exacerbated by the effects of the ongoing pandemic.

For countries in Africa, especially, climate change is an increasingly serious threat. The risks of climate change on agricultural production, food security, water resources and ecosystem services will likely have increasingly severe consequences on lives and sustainable development prospects in Africa.

As countries progress in their economic recovery from the COVID-19 induced recession, private investors and developers have a powerful opportunity to accelerate investments that support climate-resilient infrastructure and drive inclusive growth. These investments will be crucial for EMDEs to transition to low-carbon economies.

To realize this potential, three ingredients are essential for EMDEs to promote and nurture: public and private sector engagement, creating investment-friendly business environments, and building pipelines of bankable, sustainable infrastructure opportunities.

This event aims to ensure that new and existing PPP projects account for physical climate risks; are able to adapt to future climate, socio-economic, and technological changes; and address climate adaptation/mitigation across the infrastructure lifecycle. By participating, attendees will learn more about how to better incorporate climate resilience into infrastructure PPPs, how to balance climate objectives with urgent national development pressures, and how to prioritize climate change adaptation and resilience during project selection, especially during periods of tight fiscal space.

This event will include public sector officials and decision makers working at national, regional, and local levels from ministries, governmental agencies, and PPP units/institutions that hold responsibility to make decisions on structuring, implementing, and advising on PPP programs.

Webinar

Host/Facilitator:

Simon Fowler/Aijaz Ahmad

Speakers

Panel I: Government Representatives

• Lamine Lo, Director of Financing and Public-Private Partnerships, Senegal
• Doreen Karake, Former Head of Transaction Advisory at Rwanda Development Board
• Anthea Stephens, Climate & Sustainability Component Lead, National Treasury of South Africa

Panel II: Development Partners

• Primah Atugonza Kyambadde, Chair of WAPPP Africa Chapter and Legal Counsel at ALSF
• Beatrice Ikilai, Lead Coordinator, AP3N - Africa PPP Network
• Mr. Joao Cunha, Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), AFDB

Panel III: Private Sector

• Mr. Jonathan Muga, Head of Infrastructure, Standard Bank, South Africa
• Richard Abadie, Capital Projects & Infrastructure, Partner, PwC
• Francois Bergere, Long Term Infrastructure Investors’ Association