In November 2017, the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP) and the Dutch development bank FMO joined hands to help close the gap between international water projects and finance. Their collaboration led, among others, to a market analysis of financing needs of the (Dutch) water sector and identification of various international opportunities for increased collaboration between FMO and Dutch water sector players in water projects abroad.
This type of collaboration between a bank and network organization is unique and the first in its kind, aimed at helping the Dutch water sector increase its impact abroad. Next year, in addition to continued efforts to identify bankable projects, both organizations want to further improve the Dutch water sector’s skills in project development; create awareness about potential financial instruments and encourage greater coordination among ministries, the Dutch water sector, and financiers. This ambition was expressed at the International Water Week (IWW) Summit held in Rotterdam on 15 November 2018, where NWP and FMO signed for the renewal of their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and celebrated FMO’s official membership of NWP.
The total global investment requirement for water infrastructure until 2030 is estimated to be $7,500 billion until 2030. Only $6,300 billion is projected to be available, leaving a financing gap of $1,200 billion. Attracting private sources of finance is pivotal for realizing the needed interventions.
Various finance institutions with an ambition to finance water-related projects and initiatives, seem to struggle to fill their pipeline. There is no lack of money, but a lack of bankable projects. Jointly FMO and NWP explored what the underlying factors are that contribute to that and how they can be overcome. Findings are presented at the IWW Summit in Rotterdam and will be further finetuned and tested with other Dutch financiers in a roundtable session to be held in December 2018.
Original source: FMO
Published on 15 November 2018