Public funds are not sufficient for the scale of urban infrastructure that will be required for cities to deal with climate change. Innovative ways of bringing in the private sector are crucial if private funds are to be accessed. Join the Private Financing Advisory Network for an interactive discussion exploring the potential role of the private sector in building resilient urban infrastructure. 

Host: Private Financing Advisory Network

Winterton, South Africa

Session Summary

There is a huge role that the private sector can play in supporting public sector initiatives, particularly when it comes to crisis planning for the African continent. The session Private Sector Financing Options For Resilient Urban Infrastructure, hosted by Michael Sudarkasa, unpacked the importance of balancing business infrastructure needs to support urbanisation.

At the moment the pace of infrastructure development has outgrown the capacity of the public sector. This is tied to the fact that the continent will double in size by 2050, urbanisation and climate change are key risk factors that the continent has to grapple with. A key discussion point was the need for the private sector to work collaboratively with the public sector.

Abilash Panda emphasised that a key starting point to plan for disaster risk management is ensuring that Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) are strengthened and supported by high-profile organisations. Through PPPs new models supporting innovation can be highlighted in a regulatory environment. Taking this point further, Heather Jackson emphasised that solutions need to be collaborative. A challenge faced by many organisations and practitioners across the continent is siloed working approaches. Through the example of long-term investment funds and banks (short-term investors), we got to understand the complexities of funding infrastructure.

There are multiple opportunities to fund infrastructure across the continent, and key in success is ensuring that silos are broken, and opportunities are created for PPPs.