Sustainable Development Investment Partnership to Boost Africa’s Infrastructure

· The Sustainable Development Investment Partnership (SDIP), a Forum-led initiative, is to establish a regional hub dedicated to facilitating investment in African infrastructure and development projects

· SDIP, co-hosted by the World Economic Forum and OECD, aims to mobilize funding to support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals using blended finance

· SDIP’s target is $100 billion using blended finance by 2020; African projects valued at over $20 billion have already been assessed

· For more information on blended finance, click here

· More information on the World Economic Forum on Africa is available here:wef.ch/af16

world economic forumKigali, Rwanda, 10 May 2016 – Chances of realizing 16 African infrastructure projects with a combined value of over $20 billion received a lift today as the Sustainable Development Investment Partnership (SDIP) announced the creation of a dedicated Africa hub. SDIP is an initiative hosted by the World Economic Forum and the OECD.

The SDIP Africa Hub will coordinate African regional activities of the initiative, which has been set up with a mandate to support financing of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals through blended finance, an innovative approach to development finance that combines funding from private investors and lenders, governments and philanthropic funds.

“The SDIP Africa Hub is an important first step to accelerate the engagement of SDIP members on the continent. We envision the hub building local capacity to advance blended finance best practices for infrastructure investment and ensure a consistent pipeline of projects for the initiative from Africa,” said Terri Toyota, Head of the Foundations Community and Development Finance, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum.

SDIP’s membership has grown from 20 institutions when it began in September 2015 to 30 today. African members of the SDIP include the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), the Senegal Strategic Investment Fund (FONSIS) and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC). Worldwide, SDIP has reviewed projects representing $30 billion in value, over half of which are located in Africa. African projects assessed by the SDIP have a combined value of over $20 billion.

In addition to supporting blended finance for the 16 projects, the African hub of SDIP will also facilitate the exchange of best practices across its network of institutions.

“The DBSA believes that the SDIP initiative, and its goal of delivering $100 billion in infrastructure projects within the next five years, will make a meaningful contribution and also help build local capacity and solutions by bringing together African and global private- and public-sector organizations,” said Mohan Vivekanandan, Group Executive, Strategy, Development Bank of Southern Africa.

More than 1,200 participants from over 70 countries are taking part in the World Economic Forum on Africa in Kigali, Rwanda, from 11 to 13 May 2016. The theme of the meeting is “Connecting Africa’s Resources through Digital Transformation”.

The Co-Chairs of the 26th World Economic on Africa are: Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Abidjan; Dominic Barton,Global Managing Director, McKinsey & Company; Tony O. Elumelu, Founder, The Tony Elumelu Foundation, Nigeria; Graça Machel, Founder, Graça Machel Trust (GMT), South Africa; and Tarek Sultan Al Essa, Chief Executive Officer and Vice-Chairman of the Board, Agility, Kuwait

SDIP Members as of 10 May 2016: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Citi; Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA); Deutsche Bank; East Capital; European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); European Investment Bank (EIB); HSBC; Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC); Inter-American Development Bank (IADB); International Finance Corporation (IFC); Investeringsfonden For Udviklingslande (IFU); Meridiam Infrastructure; Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO); PensionDanmark; Pensionskassernes Administration (PKA); Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands (MinBuZa); Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway; Senegal Strategic Investment Fund (FONSIS); Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC); Standard Chartered; Storebrand; Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); UK Department for International Development (DFID); and US Agency for International Development (USAID).

For more information on SDIP: www.sdiponline.org