The Bank in collaboration with AME Trade is organizing a two day Public Private Partnership Africa (PPP Africa) Conference at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Tunis, from 1 – 2 December 2009.
This conference provides a platform for all stakeholders to examine the opportunities and challenges in the Energy, Transport & Water sectors in Africa. Building on the experience of PPPs in parts of Africa and other regions, this event will examine the underlying principles needed to establish the legal, political and economic framework to implement such initiatives.
AME Trade Managing Director, Mahad Ahmed, moderator of the opening session, expressed sincere thanks to the African Development Bank and private sector sponsors of the conference namely UBA, Allen & Overy, DLA Piper and African Infrastructure Investment Manager for their support.
In his opening remarks, AfDB Vice President, Bobby Pittman, underscored the need for partnerships with bilateral donors and the importance of the New Africa Action Plan in the forthcoming G8. VP Pittman concluded by urging participants to have an interactive dialogue in setting the pace for strong commitments by governments, the importance of private sector engagement in the PPP projects in Africa, and defining the landscape for an improved PPP system.
Other speakers include, Alex Rugamba, Coordinator for the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA), Anthony Sykes, Director for International Project Finance Association Africa and Tim Scales of Allen & Overy. Alex Rugamba focused mainly on (i) infrastructure gaps and opportunities for PPPs and concluded on key constraints and challenges in PPPs.
Other sessions of day one include case studies from South Africa, Senegal, Egypt and Nigeria. The afternoon session focused mainly on the energy sector and a round table discussion on how PPPs can assist the development agenda concluded the first day of the conference.
Interactive discussions between speakers and the audience show the importance of the theme of the conference in setting the pace for an improved partnership between the public and private sector in developing infrastructure for Africa.