CARPA at the African PPP Units Forum

At the invitation of the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF), we took part to the first International Forum of African PPP Units under the theme under the theme “Developing and Implementing of Climate Resilient PPPs”. With the support of the United Nations Commission for Africa (UNECA), the Forum was attended by more than thirty PPP Units in Africa.

The Forum held working sessions to facilitate PPP Units with critical issues barring the advancement of PPP project development and implementation such as the incorporation of climate resilience principles into PPPs.

At the end of the two days working sessions, from comprehensive climate assessments to regulatory requirements, the key takeaway was clear: Africa must not only prepare but also lead the way in tackling climate challenges. Thus, discussions focused on driving actionable solutions to strengthen Africa’s infrastructure against climate risks. It was concluded that:

• Comprehensive climate change assessments are essential to PPP’s projects to determine mitigation terms and responsible parties.
• PPPs often include clauses to ensure debt repayments by introducing mechanisms to address revenue shortfalls. If a project doesn’t generate sufficient revenue, the government may step in to cover the deficit, particularly in the early years.
• Any unsolicited proposal must be clear and include evaluation and standards for climate resilience as a core requirement for the project to be viable.
• A clear mechanism for dispute resolution should be in place to deal with climate-related events.
• Regulatory requirements need to be updated to incorporate climate-related considerations.
• Contract should clearly define exit conditions in case a partner fails to meet climate-related obligations.

A recommendation working report will be produced and published by the ALSF.

In our country’s perspective, there a couple of actions that have been launched to address climate changes. With the support of French Development Agency, we are on the merge to finalize a ESG guideline for PPP project that will help contracting Authorities to consider climate risks during preparation phase. These actions should continue with the updating of our Feasibility studies guideline.

On the fringes of this forum, I had discussions with the Director of the Burundi PPP Unit, who is expecting an invoice from CARPA for two Foundation CP3P training sessions. Each session will host five of their officials. CARPA will be in charge of leading workshop and providing course materials, vouchers for exams, coffee break and lunch. The invoice should be sent to them up to the 27^th September 2024.