A Bold New Idea for Infrastructure in Africa

01/04/2012 03:13 pm ET | Updated Mar 05, 2012


Now, there is a bold new idea -- Sokoni, an online marketplace for infrastructure projects in Africa. It is a project developed by the Silicon Valley-based company Zanbato, and the African Development Bank. Says the founder of Zanbato, Stanford University professor Ryan Orr, "when I'm talking to senior government officials, they often ask me, 'how can I bring more investment to my country?' My answer is always the same: 'can we start by sitting down and coming up with a list of projects?' Unfortunately, that's usually where the conversation breaks down. This was the problem that inspired the creation of Sokoni."


The premise is that by increasing transparency, the pool of investors will expand and a network of investors will be created -- something that we have yet to see in Africa. Sokoni can also be used to provide increasing levels of detailed project information to more serious investors, who are pre-qualified to invest in infrastructure projects. Orr argues that Sokoni "can radically improve the speed, availability, and quality of information flows between market participants; it can provide a platform for key African infrastructure initiatives to endorse and promote projects... This will improve competition and provide more options for African policymakers."


Sokoni will formally launch with over 50 projects in early 2012. Examples of projects currently listed on the site include the Mombasa-Nairobi-Addis Ababa Corridor - Phase II ($308.1 million), and the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Program ($124.8 million).

With a large enough scale, Sokoni (which means "marketplace" in Swahili) could prove to be a game-changer for the industry. Just last month, G-20 leaders embraced the recommendations of the High-Level Panel on Infrastructure, which endorsed Sokoni. The potential market is huge-investments in African infrastructure could generate $200 billion annually for private investors by 2020.
