Investors back large-scale projects

A rise in multi-billion dollar projects is contributing a rise in infrastructure investment from the private sector across developing countries, the World Bank has said.

The Half Yearly Update of the Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) Database report suggests that the value of large-scale projects jumped 24% to $36.7bn from 2016 to the first half of 2017. 

Cledan Mandri-Perrott, head of the infrastructure, PPPs, and guarantees group at the World Bank Hub for Infrastructure and Urban Development in Singapore, said: “Private sector investors are committing increased investment in infrastructure projects, and that is a welcome development given the tremendous need for more infrastructure in developing countries.”

The study also warns that while investment rose for the first half of 2017, figures remained 15% lower than the half-year average of the past five years.

With declining investment in the Caribbean and Latin America, the Asia Pacific received over one third of global investment, leading with the energy sector in Indonesia, Pakistan and Jordan.