Documents

Digital solutions for smarter urban infrastructure

This paper sets out the key challenges that digital solutions could address, provides a skeleton theory of change for how digital solutions can address the challenge of poor urban infrastructure, and then explores the four key opportunities that developing country governments and donors must consider if they wish to make their urban areas centres of […]

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Increasing access to clean, affordable energy in underserved communities – the case of Zambia

Low levels of access to clean and affordable electricity remain a major barrier to development across much of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). About 600m Africans do not have access to electricity. However, in recent years, increasing sales of stand-alone Solar Home Systems (SHS) have offered a solution to many households that might otherwise have waited many […]

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Infrastructure as a game-changer for Women’s Economic Empowerment

In September 2016 the UN Secretary General launched the first ever report by the High Level Panel (HLP) on Women’s Economic Empowerment. The Infrastructure and Cities for Economic Development (ICED) facility was instrumental in ensuring this HLP report recognised the potential role of infrastructure as a game-changer for women’s economic empowerment (WEE).

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Energy: Mini-grid electrification in Sierra Leone

ICED developed a business case for mini-grid electrification in remote communities in Sierra Leone using innovative private-sector business models

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Smart cities in the global South: a path to prosperity or irrelevant luxury?

Do ‘smart cities’ bear relevance in the burgeoning cities of the global south? Basic infrastructure and service provision shortfalls faced by many southern cities present a challenging context for ‘smart’ solutions; and certainly contrasting to those of many existing ‘smart cities.’

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Moving ahead: a new agenda for cities, infrastructure and trade

DFID has placed trade firmly on the economic development agenda, with the objective of harnessing the potential of new trade relationships to boost job creation and investment to the world’s poorest countries.

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Climate Resilient Infrastructure: Embedding climate resilience in DFID programme design

DFID’s Economic Development Strategy (2017) recognises climate change as ‘the biggest global threat to sustained economic development’. Climate resilient infrastructure can accommodate the shocks and stresses posed by extreme weather events and climate change, while supporting economies and communities (particularly the poor and vulnerable) to survive, adapt and thrive in the face of these challenges. […]

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Climate Resilient Infrastructure: Getting the economics of infrastructure resilience right

This briefing note reviews the evidence relating to the costs and benefits of infrastructure resilience, considers potential financing options and discusses how DFID staff can ensure value for money during investment decision-making. Infrastructure investments typically have longer lifetimes than other forms of development finance. Operating lives of assets relating to the transport, water and power […]

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Climate Resilient Infrastructure: UK Industry Best Practice

This briefing note provides an overview of UK built environment industry best practice approaches to planning, designing and assessing climate resilient infrastructure.

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ESMAP Conference – highlights and opportunities

In December, the ICED facility hosted a number of Quarterly Lessons Learnt (QLL) sessions. Attached are slides from the  session sharing highlights and opportunities from the ESMAP Conference. The session was supplemented with case studies from the ICED facility drawing from our recent work in system planning and NDCs, Sierra Leone, on and off grid, and the […]

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