OREANDA-NEWS. December 03, 2015. Representatives of 14th Project Preparation Facilities (PPFs) who are members of the Project Preparation Facilities Network (PPFN) met at the African Development Bank (AfDB) headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, at the annual meetings of the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA).

The PPFN forum sought to discuss the ICA’s report on “Project Preparation Facilities Best Practices”. It was co-chaired by Shem Simuyemba, Manager, NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF), and Bruce Mead, Deputy Technical Director of the Climate Resilient Infrastructure Facility (CRIDF).

The network adopted four key areas for its 2016 work programme. These are: “Operational Modalities” of the PPFN; “Information Sharing” including sharing of project pipeline information to enhance co-financing; “Business Model and Sustainability”; and “Corporate Governance”.  

The meeting was attended by 41 participants, including representatives from 15 PPFs. These were EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund; CRIDF; World Bank’s Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility; US Trade and Development Agency; Development Bank of Southern Africa Project Preparation Facility; and the ECOWAS Project Preparation Development Unit. Also among them were representatives of five PPFs hosted by the AfDB, namely, NEPAD IPPF; Africa Water Facility; Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa; Fund for Private Sector Assistance; and the African Development Fund Project Preparation Facility together with Africa50.

The ultimate aim of the network is to enhance cooperation and collaboration amongst the members so as to leverage each other’s resources. This is to boost co-financing so as to prepare more integrated projects with improved prospects for financing and implementation in order to achieve development impact.