The Cities Investment Facility (CIF) invites governments and urban project developers to submit investable urban development projects to join the CIF pipeline, with selected projects to be showcased at the 11th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF11) in 2022.
CIF is a multi-stakeholder initiative centred around unlocking greater capital flows to urban impact projects, by supporting their processes of ideation, design, financing, and implementation, using a series of partnership-based instruments.
Selected projects will actively participate in all 3 pillars of CIF in the following ways:
- Projects will be showcased on the Cities Investment Portal (CI Portal), which allows city officials to reach out to a global audience of investors and access a community of stakeholders at the ideation stage.
- Projects will work with the Cities Investment Advisory Platform (CIAP), an initiative providing advisory services on upstream project preparation, bankability, and SDG-impact.
- Projects will access the Cities Investment Vehicles (CI Vehicles), who are brokers or funds that provide diverse and blended sources of capital to enable cities to begin implementing their projects.
The goal for the projects submitted at this call is to reach the stage of implementation and attract private investment. Select few projects may also be presented in a high-level interactive setting to private and commercial investors at WUF11 in June 2022.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
This is an open call for sustainable infrastructure projects. Governments (National/State/Local), project promoters and developers working on public infrastructure projects, UN Regional officers and key CIF focal points are invited to submit projects for consideration in this call.
WHAT IS INVOLVED?
CIF and its implementing partners will support and provide advisory services and/or financial support, in SDG, technical and bankability realms to prepare projects for investments, connect projects to investors, participate in financial products design and provide projects a platform to showcase their progress on the CI Portal.
CRITERIA FOR SUBMITTED PROJECTS
The submitted project should:
- Have undergone preliminary scoping and preparation supported by business case, project management plan, and a demand study
- Be clearly connected with an existing urban master plan or broader development strategy for the municipality
- Present evidence of government support for the project (national and/or regional levels)
- Align with UN-Habitat’s existing geographical footprint
- Align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Please note:
Priority will be given to projects that:
- Require a minimum investment amount of USD$20 million (per project or aggregated project package)
- Showcase a strong level of preparation, bankability, and investor-orientation, with clear risk and financial considerations
- Operate in following priority areas: Affordable Housing, Energy, Roads and Bridges, Informal Settlements Upgrading, Transport and Mobility, Urban Infill and Public Space, Waste Management, and Water and Sanitation
- Currently underway with implementation
- Can be integrated with the Global Urban Monitoring Framework and SDG Cities Flagship
WHY PARTICIPATE?
Participating projects will:
- Gain exposure to multiple development communities and investors via the platform and potential showcasing at WUF11
- Have the opportunity to refine and turn existing projects into bankable investments
- Receive feedback and support from experts, and practitioners through the CIAP
- Have the opportunity to receive funding for project implementation
- Engage at a high level with international organisations
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS?
- Submit your project to us by October 8th, 2021 at http://citiesinvestmentfacility.org/submit-your-project/
- The project selection panel will evaluate projects by end of October 2021 (Tentative on number of projects)
- If your project is shortlisted, CIF will reach out to you for additional data collection and interview
- A final evaluation will be conducted, and the results of the open call will be shared by early November 2021 (Tentative on number of projects)
- Selected projects will be onboarded and enter the CIF pipeline
Please note that the deadline for submissions is October 8th, 2021 11:59 PM EAT.
If you have any questions regarding the process, please email us at unhabitat-cip@un.org.