EUROPEAN UNION REACHES OUT TO SADC
Mpho Mokwape | Monday February 17, 2014 16:36
The Contribution Agreement that was signed during the SADC-International Cooperating Partners Dialogue Platform is a EU funding to SADC, for the operation of the Project Preparation and Development Facility (PPDF)
The aim of the PPDF is meant to address the challenges of an inadequate project preparation and development capacity, particularly in the infrastructure sector.
In addition to the EU’s funding, the German government, through Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) also contributed up to P57.6 million.
Signing the Contribution Agreement on behalf of the SADC Secretariat, SADC Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration, Thembinkosi Mhlongo hailed the PPDF as a giant leap in the right direction.
“This is a valuable step towards the implementation of the SADC Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan, as infrastructure is the cornerstone of economic development and one of the key drivers of regional integration and cooperation in the SADC Region,” stated Mhlongo.
The PPDF is also intended to be a demand-driven, quick access and quick-disbursing facility that will help expedite the SADC region’s integration agenda in line with the SADC Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan.
Meanwhile the SADC member states have identified economic infrastructure as constituting a critical element in accelerating economic growth and the reduction of poverty. The purpose of the PPDF is to assist SADC member states, associated regional and national infrastructure development institutions.
These institutions are to develop high quality, viable and feasible regional economic infrastructure projects, which will then be considered for financing through grants, concessionary loans, interest-rate subsidies, bank guarantees, public and private equity investments, or private sector commercial loans.
The SADC member states outlined that in this context the primary role of the PPDF was thus to provide resources aimed at project identification, feasibility studies, project preparation and the development of investing proposals, with a view of making the projects bankable and attractive for funding.
It was announced that the main regional infrastructure sectors to be covered by the PPDF would be energy, transport, information and communication technologies, water resources and tourism as the contribution agreement allows funds transfer to recipient organisation for use according to its own rules and regulation.
For his part, EU Head of Delegation to Botswana and SADC, Gerard McGovern reiterated the EU’s commitment in cooperating with SADC in pursuit of its regional integration agenda, saying it’s a project for the bankable regional infrastructure.
“This programme will narrow the infrastructure deficit in the Southern African Region and it is a pragmatic response to the preparation of bankable regional infrastructure projects,” said McGovern.