Procedural Aspects of Project Finance

The procedural aspects of project financing by banks and other major financial institutions consists of following stages: 1. Identification of the Project The project’s idea is introduced to providers by various sources: a request from the government concerned or financials identification missions may identify a proposal from other financiers, or it. Applications for financing are then sorted out and classified: projects to be financed are selected from amongst projects which have top priority in the development plans of the beneficiary countries and which meet the requirements established by the rules for financing set out by the providers and agreed upon by the government concerned. In all cases, an official request from the government should be submitted to financials before it decides to participate in the financing. 2. Desk Review and Determination of the Project’s Scope Experts, each in his field of specialization, study all the documents available on the projectContinue reading

Typical Project Financing Models

Besides Build Operate Transfer (BOT) and Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) models, some typical project financing models are there. They are: Build Own Operate (BOO) Model: In BOO, the concessionaire constructs the facility and then operates it on behalf of the public agency. The initial operating period {over which the capital cost will be recovered} is defined. Legal title to the facility remains in the private sector, and there is no obligation for the public sector to purchase the facility or take title. The private sector partner owns the project outright and retains the operating revenue risk and all of the surplus operating revenue in perpetuity. As an alternative to transfer, a further operating contract {at a lower cost} may be negotiated. Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) Model: Under this approach, the responsibilities fro designing, building, financing and operating are bundled together and transferred to private sector partners. They areContinue reading

Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) Model

Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) funding model of project financing involves a single organization, or consortium (BOOT provider) who designs, builds, funds, owns and operates the project for a defined period of time and then transfers this projects ownership across to a agreed party. BOOT projects are a way for governments to bundle together the design and construction, finance, operations and maintenance and potentially marketing and customer interface aspects of a project and let these as a package to a single private sector service provider. The asset is transferred back to the government after the concession period at little or no cost. The Components of Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) Model: Build: The concession grants the promoter the right to design, construct, and finance the project. A construction contract will be required between the promoter and a contractor. The contract is often among the most difficult to negotiate inContinue reading

Build Operate Transfer (BOT) Model

Build Operate Transfer (BOT) is a project financing and operating approach that has found an application in recent years primarily in the area of infrastructure privatization in the developing countries. It enables direct private sector investment in large scale infrastructure projects. In BOT the private contractor constructs and operates the facility for a specified period. The public agency pays the contractor a fee, which may be a fixed sum, linked to output or, more likely, a combination of the two. The fee will cover the operators fixed and variable costs, including recovery of the capital invested by the contractor. In this case, ownership of the facility rests with the public agency. The theory of Build Operate Transfer (BOT) is as follows: BUILD – A private company (or consortium) agrees with a government to invest in a public infrastructure project. The company then secures their own financing to construct the project.Continue reading

Introduction to Project Finance

Project finance is typically defined as limited or non-recourse financing of a new project through separate incorporation of vehicle or Project Company. Project financing involves non-recourse financing of the development and construction of a particular project in which the lender looks principally to the revenues expected to be generated by the project for the repayment of its loan and to the assets of the project as collateral for its loan rather than to the general credit of the project sponsor. Project Financing includes understanding the rationale for project financing, how to prepare the financial plan, assess the project risks, design the financing mix, and raise the funds. In addition, one must understand the cogent (intellectual, powerful) analyses of why some project financing plans have succeeded while others have failed. A knowledge-base is required regarding the design of contractual arrangements to support project financing; issues for the host government legislative provisions,Continue reading

Project Constraints

A project should possess identifiable goals and a definite starting and finishing point. Project goals must be defined clearly. A useful checklist can be developed in relation to project success criteria. Criteria may be hard and concerned with what the project should achieve, or soft when they will cover how the project should proceed. The major constraints on the completion of projects are time, resource availability and the need to achieve the required standard of performance/quality for the project. This is also known as Project Management Triangle. Each of these project constraints is linked to the other two. If one or more of the constraints is changed, the remaining ones will also be changed. For instance, decreasing the budget/cost of a project is likely to lengthen its schedule or force the creation of a new, more restrained quality. Or an increase in quality generally results in anContinue reading