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Webinar: Three cities with three challenges – can we make them fundable? A live urban investment clinic

18 November 2026

2pm – 3pm CAT

Register now

Objective

Join us for a Live Urban Investment Clinic, where three African cities will put their real urban infrastructure and resilience challenges on the table.

They’ll share what they’re trying to achieve, where they’re getting stuck, and what they need to move their projects forward.

Then, we’ll bring in experts from development finance, investment, urban development and climate finance to help identify what it will take to get these projects closer to becoming investment-ready.

This isn’t another conversation about how much urban infrastructure finance Africa needs. It’s about what can actually be done to unlock it.

Moderator

• Megha Mukim, Lead Urban Development Specialist, World Bank

City representatives

• Sílvia Cabrita, Urban Planner – Urban Infrastructure and Informal Settlements, Maputo Municipal Council, Mozambique
• Fred Sagamiko, Director / City Commissioner, Dodoma City, Tanzania
• Victor Kotey, Deputy Head of Waste Management, Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Ghana

Panelists – urban finance and development experts

• Gibson Mapfidza, Chief Business Officer, Shelter Afrique Development Bank
• Muthoni Koinange, Programs Director, Afri Fund Capital
• Priscilla Negreiros, Associate Director, Climate Policy Initiative (CPI)
• Stefan Atchia, Manager, Urban Development Division (PICU.2), AfDB
• Dr Meggan Spires, Director: Sustainable Finance, ICLEI Africa, and Global Coordinator: Sustainable Finance, ICLEI

Investment diagnosis

For each project, we will ask:

• Is the project sufficiently prepared to attract finance?
• What are the key risks or gaps?
• What information, feasibility work or technical preparation is still needed?
• What type of financing might be appropriate?
• Could concessional or blended finance play a role?
• What role could project-preparation facilities or development partners play?
• Could guarantees or other de-risking mechanisms help?
• Who needs to be involved to move the project forward?
• What should the city do next?

The aim is not necessarily to find an immediate investor, but to identify the practical pathway from urban challenge to a financeable project.

Key questions

• Why do good urban projects struggle to attract finance?
• What does “bankable” actually mean from a development finance perspective?
• Where do city projects most commonly get stuck?
• What can cities do when they lack the resources or capacity for project preparation?
• When is concessional or blended finance appropriate?
• What role can project-preparation facilities and development partners play?
• How can cities strengthen the financial case for their projects?
• What role can guarantees and other de-risking mechanisms play?
• Can the lessons from these three projects be replicated across other African cities?

Who should participate?

The dialogue will bring together:

• City and municipal leaders
• Urban development and infrastructure authorities
• Project developers
• DFIs and development finance institutions
• Project-preparation facilities
• Climate finance institutions
• Development partners
• Urban finance practitioners
• Engineering and infrastructure companies

Register now

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