A look back at the Deals of the Year winners in Europe and Africa in 2013 and what made these deals significant

When it comes to infrastructure, the US is a curious beast. Whilst the shale explosion continues to offer opportunities both nationally and internationally, US transport and other infrastructure sectors seem rooted to the spot.

The Netherlands, one of the most mature and stable infrastructure markets in Europe, has continued to place emphasis on development of its transportation and energy infrastructure this year. The country continues to augment the competitiveness and quality of its ports and roads and moving forward a number of social infrastructure projects, supported by experienced public procurement agencies.

Globally, airports and the aviation industry is on the slow path to recovery. Infrastructure investments in airports and the volume of M&A activity in the sector have suffered under the global economic downturn.

The French PPP market, formerly the largest PPP market in Europe in both 2011 and 2012 by value, has in recent times suffered a dramatic downturn. Hampered by the on-going Eurozone crisis French PPPs are being impeded by budgetary constraints, economic difficulties within France and growing public debt.

2013 has been a mixed bag across project finance sectors. Some, like Oil and Gas and Power performed well, whereas others, like Transport and Renewables have struggled when compared to the same period last year. All in all, although the increase in deal value should be cause for optimism, the falling deal count shows pipelines are not yet replenished,

To date 2013 has seen varying fortunes in infrastructure across the globe. Deal count was down in both Europe and the US, despite the closure of some big ticket deals which bolstered overall value figures, whilst only Asia & Pacific and Africa and the Middle East saw an increse in both deal volume and deal value

Africa & the Middle East offers vast potential for infrastructure development and project finance investment, however this potential is still yet to be fully unleashed.