The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) have launched a new platform to help finance urban infrastructure in African cities.
According to a 2018 World Urbanization report by the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 55 percent of the world’s population live in urban areas and that number is expected to increase to 68 percent by 2050. Projections show that urbanization, combined with the overall growth of the world’s population, could add another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050, with close to 90 percent of this increase taking place in Asia and Africa.
The newly launched Africa Cities Platform is intended to help bridge the financing gap for urban infrastructure, expanding its pipeline of sustainable projects in areas such as urban mobility, energy, water and waste management. “Building more productive, inclusive and sustainable cities is therefore critical for economic growth and poverty reduction,” according to an IFC statement.
The program will focus on cities in South Africa, including metropolitan municipalities and intermediate cities, while also engaging with cities in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, such as Dakar and Lagos.
Earlier this month, the IFC issued its first Canadian dollar green bond, raising C$750 million ($567 million) for climate-smart business.
The IFC has invested more than $13 billion in global infrastructure projects and provided advisory support on urban development for over 60 countries over the past decade. This fiscal year, the group delivered more than $19 billion in long-term financing for developing countries
