Resource Financed Infrastructure : A Discussion on a New Form of Infrastructure Financing

This report, consisting of a study
prepared by global project finance specialists Hunton and
Williams LLP and comments from six internationally reputed
economists and policy makers, provides an analytical
discussion of resource financed infrastructure (RFI)
contracting from a project finance perspective. The report
is meant as a forum for in-depth discussion and as a basis
for further research into RFI's role, risks, and
potential, without any intention to present a World Bank,
supported view on RFI contracting. It is motivated by the
conviction that if countries are to continue to either seeks
RFI or receive unsolicited RFI proposals, there is an onus
on public officials to discern bad deals from good, to judge
unavoidable trade-offs, and to act accordingly. The report
aims to provide a basis for developing insights on how RFI
deals can be made subject to the same degree of public
policy scrutiny as any other instrument through which a
government of a low or lower-middle-income country might
seek to mobilize development finance. The report also feeds
into the global mainstreaming of 'open
contracting,' providing citizens with the means to
engage with governments and other stakeholders on how
nonrenewable resources are best managed for the public
benefit. In the case of RFI, there is a very direct link
made between the value of resources in the ground and the
development of (infrastructure) benefits. It should not be a
surprise, therefore, that the revised Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative (EITI) Standard, adopted in May
2013, addresses extractive transactions with an
infrastructure component, including RFI.