- Enabling environment/capacity building for project proponents
- Project scoping, ideation, and concept note development
- Development of pre-feasibility studies
- Development of feasibility studies
- Project financial structuring
- Matchmaking with investors and funders
Contact CIF via their 'How to Apply' page: https://citiesinvestmentfacility.org/how-to-app…;
The Cities Investment Facility (CIF) is a multi-stakeholder initiative that strives to unlock significant capital flows to inclusive, sustainable urbanisation projects. Through its three pillars – the Cities Investment Portal, the Cities Investment Advisory Platform and the Cities Investment Vehicles – the Cities Investment Facility supports project promoters with (i) the marketing of their projects to a global audience of construction finance providers; (ii) advice regarding the project preparation process of ideation, feasibility, development, and financial closure; and (iii) funding (both grant and private capital) for these processes, with the goal of securing construction financing from other external lenders and investors.
By convening and preparing a pipeline of SDG compliant bankable infrastructure projects, the Cities Investment Facility makes a significant contribution to achieving the UN’s Agenda 2030, as cities and urban infrastructure enable economic activity and growth.
In order to be considered, submitted projects must:
- Have undergone preliminary scoping, conceptualization, and ideation (i.e., pre-feasibility) such that the basic technical concept, business model (under a user-pays, government-pays, or hybrid model), approximate budget and schedule, and SDG alignment can be described and are complementary.
- Be clearly connected with an existing urban master plan or similar development plan strategy for the municipality.
- Align with UN-Habitat’s existing geographical footprint.
- Align with one or more of the following sectors: Affordable Housing, Energy, Roads and Bridges, Informal Settlements Upgrading, Transport and Mobility, Urban Infill and Public Space, Waste Management, and Water and Sanitation.
- Align with at least one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Additionally, priority will be given to projects that:
- Are larger in size/have larger construction budgets. Packages of aggregated smaller projects (by both geography and sector) may be considered.
- Present evidence of government support for the project, ideally at the national and/or regional levels. At a minimum, this means public endorsement of the project, but can also include financial and regulatory support. If the project promoter is a public entity, this means support from other (generally higher) levels of government.
- Showcase more advanced levels of project preparation into the feasibility or development stages. ( For example, this can mean having progressed with feasibility study, project development planning, relevant statutory approvals and permits, land/site control, environmental and social impact assessments, financial/regulatory government support negotiations, financial modelling, and/or design engineering, among other development activities.
- Can be integrated with the Global Urban Monitoring Framework and SDG Cities Flagship.