18th IRF World Meeting & Exhibition

Many developing countries are depending on financing of road development through International Financial Institutions in the form of grants or loans. The financial arrangements are often accompanied with stringent conditions regarding structural adjustment and counter-financing by the beneficiary country, limiting the budgetary discretion to a substantial degree. Private finance participation in road development projects through long term Public Private Partnerships could be a way to decrease the dependency on IFI financing. This panel will explore the associated pre-requisites, including:

• Enabling legal, financial and institutional frameworks, such as legal dispositions allowing for toll collection supported by robust traffic projections. 
• Affordable, predictable and reliable revenue generating mechanisms for the financiers in order to achieve an acceptable return on investment, such as through toll collection or annuity schemes.
• The availability of capacity and expertise in the host country’s institutions to conceive, procure, negotiate and manage the often-complex contractual arrangements.