Africa vows to boost infrastructure sector

“Without developed infrastructure, we (Africa) can’t achieve development.
“The African integration is therefore impossible without the development of infrastructure,” said Elham Ibrahim, AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy.   
Ibrahim said that Africa has elaborated the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) focusing on four main sectors including transport, energy, trans-boundary water and information and communication technologies.   
Ibrahim said: “This programme was adopted by the previous AU Heads of State Summit held in January this year which will cover short-term and long-term activities that will run on the African continent up to 2040.”
According to the AU official, the continental programme has 51 projects including 24 in the transport sector, 15 in the energy sector, nine in the trans-boundary water sector and three in the information and communication sector.   
She said the overall programme will cost US$360 billion.
Ibrahim indicated that the first phase will run up to 2020 and added that the second phase will run up to 2030.   For its part, the long term will run from 2030 up to 2040, she said.   
To implement the project, she said, the funding will come from AU member states themselves with the support of donor countries and international organisations.   
“We (Africa) have a lot of resources. The needed cost for the programme only accounts for about one percent of the African GDP,” said AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Elham Ibrahim. — Xinhua.