project & infrastructure finance awards
By Daniel Bases
Sorting through deals and analyzing different aspects of financing projects and infrastructure took on even more weight this year, with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting crisis proportions well before the review period ended on May 31, 2020.
For a while it looked as if all work would stop or slow to a crawl. There were periods of slowdown for sure, but also some deals that came to a close under extraordinary circumstances, and as it turned out we honored some of them this year.
Sustainability and environmental considerations played roles from rural electrification to trying to make the business of gas extraction more efficient. Let’s face it, hydrocarbon-related projects require significant sums of money, so too do ESG-related efforts. What we see is a shifting balance and more attention being paid to the later even as the former plays a big role in helping nations and companies transition to cleaner or more sustainable businesses.
The broad spectrum of nominations, and winners, highlight in many ways an evolution of deals over the past few years as greenfield projects as well as refinancings were years in the making. They happened to come to a head during a time of global crisis. The rationale for recognizing significant deals for projects financed before and during this extraordinary time remains undiminished: project and infrastructure finance is more critical than ever to the region's economy.
Rebuilding and breaking ground applies to bricks and mortar, pipelines and pumping stations, solar panels and electric cars.
What is also critical is making sure that we who examine deals and those who propose and execute them also seek out areas where we can use our unique positions to help those in need. To that end, LatinFinance partnered with EMpower as the official charity for this year’s awards. EMpower supports local organizations in emerging market countries that provide young people living in poverty with the tools and resources they need to lead healthy, productive lives. We have asked them to focus donations from this partnership on their grantees in Latin America.
Marginalized young people and their families are some of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and need our support more than ever. Donations will help fund critical health information and services, provide essential supplies like food and sanitizer, help young people – especially girls – for whom home is not a safe place, and support young people to continue advancing their education, get jobs, and lead change in their communities. Learn more at empowerweb.org.
Congratulations to our winners and looking ahead to better times for all.