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When “wait and see” means “never”
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2012 Kenya. Elections coming. Security concerns rising. Investors… nervous. And still… The Lake Turkana Wind Power Project pushed toward financial close. 310 MW. One of the largest wind farms in Africa. Remote. Very remote. No proper roads. Weak grid. Logistics… borderline insane. Ideas such as domesticate zebras on the table… This wasn’t a project. This was a bet. And the closing? Just what I love… Pure tension. Lenders asking for more guarantees. Sponsors juggling political risk. Government under pressure to make it happen. Disneyland. Every week could kill the deal. And still… They signed in 2014. Why did it go through? 1. Heavy institutional backing This wasn’t just private money. Development banks stepped in. Risk guarantees. Political cover. Without them… no deal. Simple. 2. Strategic importance (not optional) Kenya needed power. Not in 10 years. Now… well… then. When a project becomes critical… things move. Or this is how it should be… 3. Sponsors that accepted reality Delays? Yes. Infrastructure gaps? Yes. Uncertainty? Everywhere. They priced it. They structured it. And they went ahead anyway. Was it smooth? Not even close. Transmission line delays almost killed revenues. Disputes followed. But the asset is there. Producing power. And that’s the point: In emerging markets… You don’t wait for perfect conditions. You build… or you stay in PowerPoint forever. If you want to know more and enjoy these deals as a kid in Disneyland, you know where to click. ​Mentorship​ When you join... you'll get the course: Breaking Into PPP without the bullshit. PD 1: If you liked this email, don't keep it in secret and forward it to a friend. They will thank you enormously one day. PD 2: If somebody has sent you this email and you want to receive emails like this yourself, visit vicentevalencia.com PD 3: If you want unsubscribe, click the link below. |
Vicente Valencia
I talk about Personal Growth, Management, Infrastructure and More | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
That’s how many countries approach infrastructure. Big pipeline. Big announcements. Zero learning. Norway did the opposite. Smart those guys. In the early 2000s, they tested PPPs with just three projects: E39 Klett–Bårdshaug (opened 2005) E39 Lyngdal–Flekkefjord (opened 2006) E18 Grimstad–Kristiansand (opened 2009) That’s it. Three shots. Not fifteen. Not a political fireworks show. A controlled experiment. Same model. Same timeframe. Comparable results. And guess what? They delivered. On...
A few days ago, I had a big argument with my team in Panama. They had spent almost 3 weeks trying to convince a client to change banks for her mortgage. It was a no-brainer.Lower interest rates.Lower fees. They showed her, over and over again, different scenarios… all in vain. You may wonder how, after 2 or 3 days of trying, they kept pushing. She is a public servant.And the team was trying to convince her to move from a government-owned bank to a fully private one. I repeat.Public servant....
The French writer and poet Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once said: “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add… but when there is nothing left to take away.” And yet… People still have 10-line disclaimers in their email signatures. Or worse… the “please don’t print this email” line. I’ve reviewed bids where they were one step away from including the name and breed of the bid manager’s dog. Horror vacui. Or just… “just in case”. Every extra word that doesn’t serve a purpose?...