The Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, (UNCTAD), Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi on Thursday said that Public Private Partnerships play an important role in ensuring sustainable financing solutions among African countries.
He noted that traditionally in Africa, infrastructure investments have predominantly been developed via public procurement initiatives with funding sourced partially through budgetary allocations and large-scale sovereign borrowings – the latter often on a bilateral basis.
“As governments around Africa run out of sufficient borrowing capacity to meet its growing infrastructure needs and credit appetite for sovereign lending sources diminishes, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are starting to constitute an important channel to attract private sector financing into infrastructure projects,” he noted.
Kituyi spoke when he addressed the inaugural Africa Summit to accelerate green and sustainable finance that kicked off in Nairobi, bringing together leading financial and environmental institutions, United Nations, multinationals and sustainability campaigners.
The summit held under the theme “Transforming Africa into the next Global Growth Engine” is being organized by Standard Chartered Bank.
He said that the involvement of private sector introduces a new “commercial lens” ensuring that projects are conceived on a viability and sustainable basis.
Regional Climate Change Programme Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Chief Executive Officer, Kariuki Ngari said that sustainable finance is now recognized as one of the megatrends shaping the future of global finance.
“This summit marks a major milestone for us at Standard Chartered Bank Kenya. At a time when Kenya, and Africa continent at large, is facing continued economic and financial vulnerability, we have committed to pursue sustainable finance in our dealings across various sectors,” Ngari said.
JK/as/APA