Sub-National Infrastructure Finance Global Development Alliance
EGAT Office of Poverty Reduction, Urban Programs Team

The Urban Programs Team and the Office of Infrastructure and Engineering are pleased to offer the Global Development Alliance (GDA) for Sub-National Infrastructure Finance (SIF) Leader with Associates Award Cooperative Agreement. Donor funding will never come close to meeting the growing infrastructure needs of cities in developing countries. It is therefore imperative that local governments in the developing world, as local governments in the developed world have done for decades, gain access to private sector capital for the purpose of infrastructure financing. The SIF GDA was designed for missions that want to assist their local government counterparts to access financing from private capital markets.

The Sub-National Infrastructure Financing GDA with Evensen Dodge International can provide assistance to sub-national entities, such as states, cities, and utilities, to mobilize domestic credit for infrastructure projects. Evensen Dodge International can help to lower the cost of financing; assist central governments in modifying and reforming the legislative and regulatory framework as it pertains to sub-national borrowing; support improvements in the financial reporting standards for sub-national entities as a prerequisite to improving their creditworthiness and increasing investor confidence; structure Special Purpose Vehicles to create greater access to market-based finance; and, broker an initial market-based transaction.

As a Leader with Associates award, the SIF cooperative agreement can be accessed by missions without any further competition. Evensen Dodge International will match mission funds on a 1-to-1 basis up to the first $5 million issued in new awards. In addition, as part of the leader component, it will provide the following services at no cost to the mission: 1) in-country consultation to identify program and policy options to strengthen sub-national infrastructure financing; 2) desktop studies to determine the potential viability of infrastructure financing in a given country; and 3) in-country training on best practices in sub-national infrastructure finance for USAID mission staff and others. Associate Awards can be issued up to the end of the GDA on September 30, 2009.

For information on how to access this GDA, please contact Mike Keshishian (mkeshishian@usaid.gov) or Jessica Tulodo (jtulodo@usaid.gov).