MCDF Coordination Committee Discusses Innovation Lessons Enhancing Road PPP Projects in Latin America and the Caribbean

Innovation lessons that are enhancing road public-private partnership (PPP) projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, a global center of transport PPPs, were the focus of a roundtable discussion during the first MCDF Coordination Committee (CC) meeting in 2026. The hybrid meeting was hosted by this year’s CC Chair, CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, from Bogotá, Colombia on 9 April.

The roundtable followed welcome remarks by CAF Executive Vice President, Mr. Gianpiero Leoncini, and presentations by MCDF CEO Zhongjing Wang and staff on the progress of the MCDF Finance Facility replenishment exercise, MCDF project preparation and capacity building grants, and MCDF and partners’ information-sharing activities to promote high-quality connectivity infrastructure investment.

The roundtable was moderated by Mr. Ede Ijjasz, Senior Advisor to MCDF’s CEO, and featured insights from Ms. Liliana María Ospina, Vice Minister of Transport, Colombia, Ms. María Consuelo Araújo, President, Colombian Chamber of Infrastructure, and Mr. Angel Cárdenas, General Manager for Infrastructure for Development at CAF.

The panelists noted the rebound in transport PPPs worldwide after the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by road concessions and the acceleration of road PPP projects in emerging markets in Latin America and the Caribbean, such as Brazil and Colombia. They also highlighted the increasing size of these projects and introduction of more sophisticated risk allocation frameworks.

Panelists shared regional lessons on how to scale infrastructure investment, leverage multilateral support, and advance next generation PPP frameworks to address infrastructure gaps.

Vice Minister Ospina explained that in the last two decades, Colombia’s PPP model for highway concessions has matured, with improved regulations and contract management helping to better manage risks. This has created an atmosphere of trust which has enabled greater private sector investment in the sector. Two particular areas of PPP innovation in Colombia have been the use of land value capture as a financing source for road projects, and the use of PPPs in poorer areas of the country to close inequality gaps, she said.

Ms. Araújo reinforced the Vice Minister’s message, describing how investor confidence has improved over time in Colombia as a result of a more balanced allocation of risk to the private sector, greater stability in payments that insulate projects from political cycles, and the PPP law of 2012 that provided a more predictable legal framework. She called for International Financial Institutions to work more closely with local governments and contractors to embed environmental, social, and governance considerations more fully into project designs.

Overviewing regional challenges in PPP development, Mr. Cárdenas said that a lack of government capacity is a key bottleneck to attracting private investment, particularly in the railways sector and at subnational level. CAF is seeking to play a significant role in strengthening institutions, as well as supporting project bankability through risk-reduction mechanisms and financial structuring.

Mr. Ijjasz pointed out that MCDF’s mandate is highly aligned with the priorities outlined by Mr. Cárdenas. Mr. Ijjasz underscored that MCDF is dedicated to mobilizing support for risk mitigation and human and technical capacity development critical to delivering bankable and sustainable projects in Latin America and the Caribbean and developing countries worldwide.

He said this prioritization is reflected in the three-part 2026 Public-Private Partnership Hot Topics Workshop Series taking place from May to July, co-organized by MCDF, CAF, and other development partners, and a new report highlighting PPP lessons and insights shared by experienced practitioners featured in the popular workshop series’ sessions held in 2024 and 2025.