Reframing Cost Information in EPC+F Road Projects in Tanzania: A Conceptual Review of Financial Risk Visibility and Infrastructure Bankability

Abstract

Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing procurement models are increasingly used in public road infrastructure delivery to accelerate implementation and mobilise private financing. Despite these intentions, many Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing Road projects in developing economies experience delays in achieving financial close, conservative lending conditions, and risk reversion through contract renegotiation. Existing literature largely explains these challenges through contractual, governance, and macroeconomic factors, while giving limited attention to the informational structure of project cost documentation. This paper presents a critical conceptual literature review examining how quantity-based cost information, particularly Bills of Quantities, influences financial risk visibility and infrastructure bankability in Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing Road projects. Using interpretive thematic synthesis across project finance, procurement, cost management, and information-oriented construction literature, the study identifies a persistent conceptual gap: although Bills of Quantities are contractually marginalised under lump-sum EPC+F arrangements, financiers continue to rely on quantity-derived cost logic during financial appraisal. The paper proposes the Bills of Quantities –Finance–Risk framework, which repositions Bills of Quantities as financial-information architectures mediating between technical scope definition and lender risk perception. The study concludes that improving the coherence, traceability, and transparency of quantity-based cost documentation may strengthen lender confidence and infrastructure bankability in developing economy contexts.

Keywords: Infrastructure finance; Financial appraisal; Cost-information systems