Africa’s infrastructure deficit lowers its per capita economic growth by 2 percent a year and reduces the productivity of its firms by as much as 40 percent, Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
Gatete was speaking at the ongoing 2024 Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) Week opened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a clarion call for key players to leverage transformative financing and regional integration for sustainable development of the infrastructure sector
“Inadequate infrastructure, which reduces its competitiveness in the global market,” said Gatete who is also Under Secretary General of the United Nations on Thursday.
He said that greater economic activity, enhanced efficiency and increased competitiveness on the continent were continually being hampered by inadequate transport, communication, water and power infrastructure.
Amani Zeid, the African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy mentioned that PIDA has played a significant role in Africa’s digital transformation, with several countries on the continent achieving digital connectivity via optical fiber cables.
Through PIDA she said, nearly 30 million people in Africa have gained access to electricity, more than 16,000 km of roads and 4,000 km of railway lines have been developed across the continent.
“It is critical to mobilize the estimated US$160.8 billion required to implement PIDA projects from internal and external sources of finance”, Zeid noted.
The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) is the strategic framework of the African Union for the development of regional and continental infrastructure.
It serves as a benchmark for the continental infrastructure development agenda, policies, and investment priorities.
MG/as/APA