The bank and other institutions are close to finalising a fund intended to raise up to $1bn for much-needed investment in infrastructure projects in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), said Raymond Bourdeaux, the lead infrastructure specialist for the region at the World Bank.

Investment in hospitals, schools, roads and other public services is viewed by the World Bank as a way of easing social tensions and laying foundations for economic growth. But infrastructure spending in some countries hit by unrest has been squeezed.

Dwindling foreign investment and pressure for government spending on subsidies and other social initiatives risk directing money away from improving public services.

“By default there’s less public-sector infrastructure investment available coupled with the significantly increased perception of political risk,” Mr Bourdeaux said yesterday on the sidelines of a Dubai International Financial Centre economics workshop.

Unhappiness with poor public services played its part in fuelling recent social unrest in the region, he said. “You have strong demand [for infrastructure] and less means for developing it. That’s a problem that’s not going to go away as populations increase.”

In those countries affected by turmoil, there was likely to be a rethinking of where to direct infrastructure funding, said Mr Bourdeaux.

“From a political perspective there’s likely to be a focus on projects that have more immediate demonstration of social benefit,” he said. “Taking a choice between pursuing a hospital or road as a project, the government would probably choose the hospital as you can link it to the needs of the people in a much more direct way.” Continue Reading

According to court documents obtained by Reuters, Helios Towers Nigeria Ltd, which builds and rents towers used by mobile operators, is suing Telkom in the High Court of Lagos State, claiming the South African firm walked away from a 10-year rental agreement after just three years.

Helios Towers Nigeria is seeking $251 million plus interest, and an injuction preventing Telkom from selling its Nigerian unit until the dispute is settled, the documents show.

Telkom said last month it planned to sell part of the money-losing unit, Multi-Links, for $52 million to Visafone Communications. A spokeswoman for Multi-Links, Ijeoma Abazie, said in an e-mailed statement there were no injunctions currently in place on any of the parties.

Multi-Links has filed a civil action against Helios in the Lagos court, claiming non-compliance with Nigerian law, she said.

A spokesman for Telkom declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for investment firm Shanduka.

Multi-Links, one of only four mobile operators using the CDMA technology platform in a market dominated by the rival GSM standard, has been a problem in recent years for Telkom, which itself is fighting to turn around its business.

Shares of Telkom ended down 2.4 percent at 36.80 rand on Monday, following a report on the suit by Britian’s Telegraph newspaper on Sunday.

London-based Helios is an Africa-focused private equity firm with more than $1 billion in capital commitments.

Another firm run by the group, Helios Towers Africa, is backed by several major investors including George Soros and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright.

Shanduka Group is a black-owned South African investment firm.