| GLOBAL INNOVATION |
BUILDING THE FUTURE – DRIVEN BY COVID-19 By Monica Bennett, director of Thought Leadership, GI HUB The GI Hub recently launched its newest resource, Transfor mat ive Outcomes Through Infrastructure. Its purpose is to uncover the G20 priorities that underlie the US$3,2 trillion (ZAR48,66 trillion) of infrastructure investments announced postCovid-19 and to help direct future spending into areas that could yield the greatest possible benefits for people and the planet. With this resource, we are making available data that we collected collaboratively with G20 governments and sharing insights on how those governments are using infrastructure to achieve transformative outcomes after the pandemic. This information will help governments, investors, multilateral development banks and project directors across the public and private sectors to develop future infra-
structure packages with transformative outcomes in mind. The initiative has revealed itself to be even more timely and relevant than expected, especially in the context of the various national pledges to net zero and the ever-growing attention on digitalisation, connectivity, circularity and affordability in infrastructure. An unprecedented scale of opportunity Why did we need this resource? Because the scale of opportunity after Covid-19 is almost unprecedented – and so is the need. The infrastructure landscape changed rapidly after the virus f irst struck and governments needed an immediate reference point to enable better decision-making. An unprecedented level of fiscal stimulus was deployed after Covid-19 started: indeed, in April 2021, the International Fund’s Fiscal Monitor reported a total of US$17 trillion of key fiscal measures for the G20
“Between February 2020 and August 2021, G20 governments announced US$3,2 trillion in infrastructure as a stimulus, the equivalent of 3,2% of GDP across G20 member and guest economies.” 18
PRECAST | ISSUE ONE | 2022
(including member and guest economies) since Januar y 2020. This represents approximately 20% of the G20 GDP and has resulted in a reduced fiscal space which has forced governments to divert their budgets into urgent areas such as healthcare and social protection. As a result, infrastructure as a stimulus was slow to emerge in the early days of the pandemic. However, an analysis of the G20’s stimulus packages over the past 18 months has demonstrated substantial commitment by G20 governments to infrastructure investments for Covid-19 recovery. Global stimulus Bet ween Februar y 2020 and Aug ust 2021, G20 gover nment s a nnounced US$3,2 trillion in infrastructure as a stimulus, the equivalent of 3,2% of GDP across G20 member and guest economies. This is substantial compared with the total stimulus deployed during the global financial crisis of 2007/8, which was US$2 trillion (roughly 1,4% of GDP). If this infrastructure as a stimulus is spent in the next two years, it would be a 45% increase in yearly infrastructure investment compared with 2019 levels. The boost to infrastructure investment is sorely needed. The pandemic increased inequalities among vulnerable people and
