Quality infrastructure investment is essential for supporting economic development and enhancing human well-being. However, there is an infrastructure financing gap of USD 2.6 trillion annually in developing countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Perceived excessive risk combined with weak public governance, a lack of trust in governments and a shortage of bankable, well-prepared projects deter private infrastructure investment. In addition, developing countries often do not experience the benefits of infrastructure development due to poor quality projects that leads to unreliable access to essential services.

The objective of the project is to contribute to an increase in quality infrastructure in emerging and developing countries by enabling private sector investment in it.

SOURCE enables efficient and transparent project development and procurement by governments in countries where it is deployed.

FAST-Infra promotes compliance with environmental, social and governance criteria and operationalizes widely accepted and existing frameworks and standards (such as the G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure Investment) into a project-level certification framework. A certification would help projects to meet the expectations of international investors and project developers by reducing their risks, thereby helping address the global infrastructure investment gap.

The digitalization of national project development and procurement processes is enabled by the roll-out of SOURCE in target countries. This brings systemic change in the way governments define, develop and manage their sustainable infrastructure projects for both traditional procurement and PPPs. It is an essential contribution to better developed projects, faster development time, and more open tender processes that enable the participation of international players.

Usage and recognition of FAST-Infra are increased in target countries. A certification with FAST-Infra helps projects to meet the expectations of international investors and project developers, thereby helping address the global infrastructure investment gap.

Erwartete Resultate:  

SOURCE is integrated in selected countries. This involves customizing the SOURCE platform to the local context, processes and laws. Government teams will also test SOURCE on one pilot project.

SOURCE is replatformed on the cloud. This adds new functionalities such as a climate change dashboard.

A new tab in SOURCE is developed with the insurance industry. This helps to identify all the different risks (notably climate risks) across the life cycle of infrastructure projects.

Local capacity to use the FAST-Infra Label in selected countries is developed. This capacity building will support the adoption of FAST-Infra by helping stakeholders understand the benefits and methodology of FAST-Infra.

Pilot projects are certified with the FAST-Infra Label in selected countries. A revolving fund will be set-up to cover assessment costs for projects with high potential for positive impact, enabling developers to invest in sustainability improvements early in the project’s life.