Africa should fund own infrastructural development

NAMPA

There is a serious need for African countries to start saving more money to be used for financing their own infrastructural development.

These remarks were made by Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) group executive for client coverage Mohan Vivekanandan at Swakopmund on Monday.

Vivekanandan was speaking at a media breakfast meeting as part of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) week.

He said the fact that most African projects in areas such as railway lines, aviation and energy generation were funded by European donors needed revisiting.

Another challenge was the ability for African countries to come up with bankable projects – a situation which, he said, left the bank and donors with little space for investment.

“It is therefore very important that we have our own money to finance our infrastructure and also develop bankable projects where the bank can put money.”

Vivekanandan said if projects are not bankable, in most cases public-private partnerships take care of these, but such projects are generally small, creating little employment.

Explaining the importance of infrastructure development on the continent, CEO of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating Agency, Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, said corridors are the future.

“It is through corridors, such as roads and railway, where job creation capacity is enhanced; we need these to move goods and services to where they are needed,” said Mayaki.

He stated that pension funds in Africa needed to invest more in the development of the continent.

Mayaki believes the fact that such funds currently invest little in development projects is because there is no sensitisation.

“We need to sensitise them on how and where to invest. I think by doing so, we will be able to get more funding from pension funds.”

On Namibia’s contribution to PIDA, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Works and Transport, Willem Goeiemann, said there were currently no direct projects.

He referred to the new container terminal under construction at the Port of Walvis Bay as one of the projects which could benefit Africa.

Goeiemann said Namibia was in the process of identifying its PIDA projects through a six-month study, which looks at railway line expansion to Katima Mulilo and the Baynes Hydropower Project in partnership with Angola.

Another idea he mentioned was to expand the railway line from Walvis Bay to Botswana by means of a partnership between the two countries.

The PIDA week started on Monday, bringing together representatives from African countries and other stakeholders to discuss ways to improve infrastructural development, challenges and achievements.