Welcome to the second edition of Dentons/CHINCA Middle East
Africa Project Reporter

This newsletter is produced in cooperation with CHINCA (China International Contractors Association). In this newsletter you will find a non-exhaustive shortlist, based on information gathered from publically available sources, of upcoming infrastructure projects in the Middle East and Africa together with an article on the legal framework for PPPs in selected African jurisdictions.

The continued commitment by governments in the region to investing in economic and social infrastructure is demonstrated by the introduction of a formal legal framework for PPPs in a number of jurisdictions. In the Middle East the effect of declining oil prices and the renewed aim of diversifying GCC economies has seen the introduction of plans such as Vision 2030 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Strategic Plan 2021 in Dubai. A common theme in most of these broad socio-economic plans is an underlying recognition that PPPs can provide a cost-effective method through which the growing demands of the region can be satisfied, and in some jurisdictions this is driving a move towards the use of the PPP method rather than the more traditional public financing technique. The Middle East region continues to defy market expectations with transaction value in the first half of 2016 reaching a five year high. In Sub-Saharan Africa it is expected that spending on infrastructure could reach USD 180 billion a year by 2025 with a focus on transport and power, and there is a general consensus that private sector financing will be a vital component in meeting the infrastructural needs of and facilitating growth in the region. It is expected that the combination of these new legislative regimes, the growing infrastructural needs in the region and the formal economic and social plans will work together to boost the flow of projects in the MEA region.