· Infrastructure is an accelerator of growth and an agent of change for countries facing rapid urbanization, natural disasters,
a changing climate, and environmental degradation. · Today’s infrastructure problems are multi sectoral. Solving them calls for a cross-cutting approach with often integrated solutions. As the World Bank Group seeks to meet countries’ basic access needs, it will also make a strategic shift to focus on transformational infrastructure. · By focusing on transformational infrastructure, the Bank Group will address infrastructure components connected to other sectors. For example, hydropower development is an energy issue, but it also must be viewed in a river-basin context and weighed against alternative uses of water. Urban transport is about transport, but it is also about energy efficiency and urban development. Smart city development combines traditional infrastructure and information communication technology (ICT) with better governance and management of social capital. · Infrastructure access remains a challenge. About 1.4 billion people in the world today have no electricity. Lack of access to safe water obliges many women and children to spend hours gathering it every day. About 880 million people are without safe drinking water and 2.6 billion people are without access to basic sanitation. Lack of access to the nearest market or health center constrains economic and social opportunities. About 900 million rural dwellers worldwide are more than two kilometers―a 20 to 25 minute walk― from the nearest all-weather road. · An estimated $850 billion is needed for infrastructure financing in the developing world every year though 2015 to meet the demand for infrastructure services. That is 6.1 percent of global GDP. Regions of greatest need are South Asia, where infrastructure demand is equivalent to 10.8 percent of GDP, closely followed by Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa, where the need is estimated to be 9.8 percent and 9.2 percent of GDP, respectively. What We Do: The World Bank Group and Infrastructure · The Bank Group supports infrastructure services across energy, transport, water supply and sanitation, urban management, water resources, environmental infrastructure, information and communications technologies, oil, gas, and mining. · Total Bank Group infrastructure financing exceeded the $59 billion target set by the Sustainable Infrastructure Action Plan (SIAP) for the fiscal years 2008-2011 by $31 billion. Total Bank Group commitments for infrastructure in FY11 alone reached $24 billion. By maintaining infrastructure investment programs through the existing Infrastructure Recovery and Assets Platform, and by sustaining private sector-led initiatives and employment creation through the International Financing Corporation (IFC), the Bank Group played an important countercyclical role to help countries cope with the global downturn. · The Bank committed $21 billion in financing for infrastructure in 2011, accounting for 54 percent of its total lending commitments. With this support, it remained the largest source among multilateral institutions for infrastructure finance in both low- and middle-income countries. · Under SIAP, IFC financing for infrastructure increased by $13 billion from FY08 to FY11, more than double the $6.3-billion increase in the preceding four years. IFC's annual infrastructure investments have been relatively stable from FY08 to FY11 at about $5 billion, with some decrease in FY11.
· The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) has extended its product line and enhanced its business development in recent years, with Board approvals for infrastructure reaching nearly $500 million in FY11. MIGA has helped accelerate efforts to explicitly integrate governance risks and accountability framework in infrastructure projects. · Governments’ ability to provide safe, affordable, and reliable infrastructure can be constrained by poor governance. The Bank’s Operational Risk Assessment Framework aims to identify and mitigate governance risks within Bank projects. This helps address the finding of a recent Independent Evaluation Group review which noted that ‘poor governance’ affects service delivery negatively, and can also have adverse affects on overall poverty reduction. Increasingly, the Bank Group invests in stand-alone projects and global initiatives (e.g. EITI, CoST) to improve accountability, transparency, and good governance. To respond to the evolving needs of client countries, the Bank Group is updating its Infrastructure Strategy. The update proposes to continue support for the core business of infrastructure for access, with an enhanced focus on transformational infrastructure, mobilization of private capital and other sources of financing. Views heard during a consultation process with client countries, private sector, NGOs, and civil society which ended July 31 will provide guidance for the strategy document. Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid The Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA) is a multi-donor program to increase access to basic services and infrastructure for the poor through Output-Based Aid (OBA). OBA ties disbursement of public funds (mostly subsidies) to achievement of specified outputs. Over one million people have benefited from GPOBA pilot projects in ICT, energy, transport, and water and sanitation. In FY11, GPOBA’s portfolio included 31 projects worth $124.9 million, expected to benefit 6.5 million poor people in 23 countries. Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility
The Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), another multi-donor program, provides technical assistance to governments to help create a sound enabling environment that encourages private sector engagement in infrastructure. For more information, please see: www.worldbank.org/sustainabledevelopment Media Contacts: Christopher Neal: (202) 473-2049, cneal1@worldbank.org Roger Morier: (202) 473-5675, rmorier@worldbank.org Updated August 2011 | 
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