Given the challenges of financing major capital projects like power plants in the midst of the Great Recession, South Africa and the national utility, Eskom, have turned to the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the European Investment Bank for assistance in financing new electric power stations.

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Brazil has also shied away from financing a South American development bank, but has enthusiastically worked to finance the construction of the Interoceanic Highway, a freeway that links Brazil to Pacific coast ports in Peru.

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As sustainable development finance remains a critical concern for African economies, the African Development Bank has invested in a suite of creative financing and support instruments, such as the Congo Basin Forest Fund, ClimDev-Africa Fund, Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, African Water Facility, and Africa Carbon Support Program.

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Of course, the system only nets out that way because of low-interest loans from a Japanese development bank, with the remaining favorable financing from the state and national governments.

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Another rapidly growing country with a decentralized government, Brazil has financed nearly every renewable energy project through the National Social Economic Development Bank (BNDES) with low-cost and long-term debt financing.

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