By: Staff Writer
July 19, 2022
The Inter-American Development Bank president said that Latin America and the Caribbean needs to keep “hustling” at having $2.2tr invested annually in infrastructure by 2030 to meet the Sustainable Development Goals and promotes public, private partnerships (PPPs) as the vehicle to get it done.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, said at a webinar for the launch of the IDB and Economist Impact 2021/2022 Infrascrope, that the work done by the Economist Impact and the bank on the analysis of infrastructure gaps are an “important contribution” to “highlighting numerous opportunities” around the region.
Infrascope 2021-2022 is the seventh edition in a series of studies conducted every two years by Economist Impact, the analysis arm of The Economist Group, and commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
The Infrascope index is a benchmarking tool that evaluates the capacity of countries to implement sustainable and efficient PPPs in key infrastructure sectors, principally transport, energy, water and sanitation, solid waste management, and social infrastructure. It aims to help policymakers identify the challenges to private-sector participation in infrastructure that, if overcome, could unlock the power of PPPs and support the broader development agenda.
Mr Claver-Carone added: “Let me highlight that for the first time the Infrascope now also assesses the environment in countries for enabling social infrastructure PPPs, like hospitals, schools, and we all know that addressing those gaps in health and education are going to be critical this year and beyond.”
This year’s ranking saw the Dominican Republic ranked the highest in the Caribbean with an overall score of 57 on the index and for Central America El Salvador had the highest ranking at 58 and all other countries in the region fell below the average score as the infrastructure to manage PPPs are just not there and it is critical to invest in the capacity to deliver on quality PPPs.
These PPPs provide important construction jobs particularly for countries dealing with climate change impacts as he estimates that for every $1 invested in resiliency means $4 that’s saved in rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Mr Claver-Carone also said: “Today, our region’s considerable effort to improve the quality of an access to infrastructure services, stacks up against a really tough reality, a tough reality that we face every day: Latin American Caribbean needs to invest an annual 2.2tr.
“That’s more than 3 percent of its GDP in water and sanitation, energy, transportation, and of course, telecommunications infrastructure and that’s just to be able to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.”
He continued, “Clearly, closing the infrastructure gap is going to require the financing as well as the efficiency and innovation that the private sector brings. Billions of dollars are out there for these projects, of course, not enough to get to the trillions, but billions, so we have to keep hustling at it.”
Without the private sector the government’s cannot get this done with raising the amount of capital need to close the infrastructure gap, but PPPs are “key” to bridging this financial gap and getting people “mobilized” towards the common goal.