Launched by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Public-Private Partnership Network and New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), the organisation met for the first time last week and aims to kickstart SADC’s investment masterplan for infrastructure worth $500bn between 2014 and 2027.
The forum heard that $100bn of the funding was expected to come from the international private sector, with PPPs participating in some, but not all, regional infrastructure projects.
Kogan Pillay, who heads the SADC Public-Private Partnership Network, said that infrastructure projects would be aligned to national and regional objectives, and were a tool for regional economic integration.
"Some will be full PPPs, others not," he said, adding that the aim is to bring the private sector into projects at their inception to move them forward and de-risk them before they get to market.
This would involve advising on policy and institutional reform in SADC countries. It would also include standardising PPP documentation and procedures where possible, for example choosing transaction advisers, conducting feasibility studies and drafting contracts.