The Initiative focuses on the Governance Gap
The Regional Roundtables focus on the main enabler of effective, bankable and sustainable infrastructure projects: sound infrastructure governance. Much good work is devoted to developing effective financing arrangements, but if we are to meet the ambitious investment goals of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, more needs to be invested in bridging the infrastructure governance gap. To promote this, four roundtables will be held; two in Sub-Saharan Africa, one in Asia and one in Latin America.
The Regional Roundtables program will fundamentally move policymakers and practitioners towards better approaches, standards and tools that will significantly improve infrastructure governance across client countries.
The Roundtables are a Call to Action
The Roundtables respond to the call to action from the 2015 Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Paris Agreement (2015 COP21). The AAAA called on the MDBs to establish the Global Infrastructure Forum (Forum) in order to “improve alignment and coordination among established and new infrastructure initiatives” while bringing together the full range of stakeholders. In the April 2017 Forum, the MDBs and the partners agreed that their concerted efforts should focus on the following main priorities: The strengthening of investment capacity, policy and governance frameworks of public authorities; the enhancement of private sector involvement and finance by creating an enabling environment; the enhancement of the catalytic role of MDBs.
The Roundtables harness the collective power of the MDBs, OECD, GI Hub and development partners. The World Bank Group (WBG) is committed to helping governments make informed decisions about improving access and quality of infrastructure services, including, where appropriate, using Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). To this end, the WBG is generating global knowledge and diagnostic tools and offering advisory services and technical assistance to help governments scale up and improve their infrastructure delivery and ensure that infrastructure projects are fiscally sustainable, represent value for money, are commercially viable, and implementable. The World Bank leads the Roundtable Secretariat in close collaboration with other MDBs and IOs including the OECD, GIH, AfDB, ADB, ALSF, DBSA, EBRD, EIB, IADB, KAS, NEPAD and SADC.
Analysis from the World Bank shows that substantial benefits can be realized by better governance of public investment throughout its life-cycle; and that the quality of public investment management is linked to growth outcomes. Improvement in infrastructure management could lead to substantial savings and enhanced infrastructure productivity. Conversely, poor public-sector capacity in the infrastructure space is a major reason why projects fail to meet their time and delivery objectives or external financing. The answer to this challenge is a strengthening of the entire institutional architecture in order to deliver the right strategic infrastructure on time, within budget, and in a manner, that commands the confidence of the market and civil society.
The Second Regional Roundtable will be held in Abidjan
The Roundtable in Abidjan will bring together MDBs and ministers, decision-makers, lenders and contractors and civil society from across Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa. With the remarks from the Vice President of the African Development Bank, Pierre Guislain, and World Bank Group Vice President Pascale Dubois, the agenda will look to discuss important infrastructure governance issues by not only presenting case studies of successful projects, but will also include a number of sessions devoted to practical tools.
Note: This is a closed event hence no external registrations are allowed.
WBG hosts events through out the year and you can find the one most relevant to you by visiting here.