São Vicente Water Infrastructure Capital Plan
- Mindelo, Cabo Verde
- 2026
- CONSULTING
ADVISE developed a capital plan for water infrastructure on São Vicente, connecting treatment upgrades, storage resilience and energy requirements with appropriate financing pathways.
The challenge
The proposed water infrastructure programme combined treatment improvements, storage rehabilitation and distribution interfaces within an island system dependent on energy-intensive desalination. These components had different asset lives, procurement requirements and revenue implications. The sponsor needed to assess financing options without overlooking affordability, energy exposure or maintenance obligations. Technical priorities also had to be separated from assumptions about grants, concessional funding and the availability of commercial debt.
Our approach
ADVISE worked from engineering inputs to organise the programme into financeable components and identify the evidence required by prospective funders. The team examined operating costs, energy sensitivity, customer payment assumptions and lifecycle maintenance requirements. Financing scenarios distinguished public support, concessional instruments and commercially repayable expenditure. A readiness plan covered environmental review, procurement preparation, governance and technical validation, with financing discussions explicitly conditional on the completion of required diligence.
The result
The sponsor received a capital strategy that linked infrastructure priorities to their operating and repayment characteristics. Funders could review a structured programme rather than an undifferentiated request for construction finance. The work clarified which components needed affordability support and which assumptions required further technical confirmation. It also established a preparation sequence for funding engagement without presenting advisory completion as financial close or delivery of the infrastructure.
Outcomes
- Component-based water infrastructure capital plan
- Explicit affordability and energy considerations
- Defined funding readiness requirements