African Development Bank okays multi million dollar Infrastructure Fund for Somalia

The African Development Bank has approved a multi partner financing of infrastructure projects to the tune of $350 million in Somalia over the next five years, the Abidjan based bank has said.

The Bank said Wednesday the Fund will focus on Energy, Water & Sanitation, Transport and ICT sectors in Somalia in line with the country’s 2017-2019 National Development Plan.

These sectors, the Bank said ‘are critical for rebuilding Somalia’s economy, and will help create employment opportunities and establish a conducive environment for peace and state-building in the country’.

The Fund is based on a two year infrastructure needs assessments whose findings the Bank said have been consolidated and discussed with Somali authorities and stakeholders to develop an initial five year pipeline projects of about $350 million to be financed through Fund.

Some of the key partners are the UK’s Department for International Development and the Islamic Development Bank both of which have contributed the seed capital.

The financing is crucial to Somalia’s development infrastructure which were largely destroyed during the civil war. Virtually all public utility services in Somalia are provided by the private sector which has played a significant role in filling the gap left by collapsed state structures.

Somalia’s international partners endorsed a post conflict recovery blue print dubbed the Somali Compact in 2013 in Brussels with initial donor pledges of $ 2.4 billion.

The International Monetary Fund announced a one year Staff Monitored Programme for Somali May this year. The Programme is geared toward reestablishing macroeconomic stability, building capacity to strengthen macroeconomic management, rebuilding institutions, and improving governance and economic statistics, the IMF said.

The AfDB said Wednesday it will scale up its resource mobilization campaign for the multi partner fund by convening a Donor Roundtable meeting next month and subsequent Infrastructure Investment Conference in early 2017.

The AfDB promotes the investment of public and private capital in projects and programmes that are likely to contribute to the economic development of its stakeholders in Africa.