OBGP 3325 - Global Capital, Local Projects: The Dynamics of Project Finance (NEW)

This course opens a window into one of the most impactful —and least understood—forces shaping today’s world: how global financial markets make major infrastructure projects actually happen. From clean-energy plants to digital networks, project finance is the engine that moves ideas off the page and into reality.

If you’re curious about international development, sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy, or the financial engineering behind billion-dollar projects, this class is designed for you. You’ll learn how banks, multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, investors, governments, and developers come together to build the assets that power modern life—often under high uncertainty, complex politics, and tight economic constraints.

Throughout the course, you’ll travel across continents: to a wind farm in Uruguay backed by multilateral banks, to thousands of distributed solar rooftops financed by a Brazilian fintech, to large-scale U.S. and French power projects shaped by policy incentives, tax credits, and deep capital markets. Each case gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how deals are structured, how risks are managed, and why some projects succeed while others stall.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand how global capital is mobilized for local infrastructure
• Evaluate risk allocation and policy frameworks
• Build and interpret a simple project-finance model
• Draw policy lessons from contrasting country cases
• Understand project finance from different angles: project developer, multilateral bank, fintech.

Professional Skills

Project Structuring

Financial modelling

Global and Cross-Sector Perspective

None.

Students will receive written feedback on their concept notes and essays. Verbal feedback will be given to groups after their presentations and subsequent discussions. General feedback will be shared with the class to ensure everyone benefits from the collective learnings.

• Concept Quiz (20%) : to cover fundamentals of project finance
• Country Comparison (20%) : a 1–2 page reflection on how project finance differs across two markets, focusing on incentives, macro conditions, and policy frameworks.
• Group Modeling Project + Presentation (50%) : teams build and present a simplified project-finance model.
• Participation 10%

• Attendance: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Online learning activities: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 3 hours a week / 36 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 3 hours a week / 36 hours a semester