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ICRC, others to address $930bn infrastructure funding gap

By on February 16, 2012

The Infrastructure Concession Regulation Commission on Wednesday said it would in partnership with other African countries galvanise resources to address the $930bn infrastructure deficit in the continent.

The Director-General, ICRC, Mr. Mansur Ahmed, gave the indication at the sidelines of the African Public Private Partnership Network’s inaugural meeting held in Abuja.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the World Bank, the National Assembly, key government agencies as well as high-powered delegations from various countries in the continent.

It was convened to encourage more African countries to embrace the PPP procurement option, provide a platform for sharing of ideas as well as provide a regional database for PPP projects.

Figures from the World Bank indicate that about $93obn will be needed over the next 10 years to address the continent’s infrastructure deficit.

The bank had said that although the annual investment in infrastructure in Africa had doubled from $17bn to $35bn between 2001 and 2009, there was still a huge investment gap.

But the ICRC DG said that the funding gap offered huge opportunities for interested investors in African infrastructure to tap into.

He said for now, all investment in infrastructure would be targeted at electricity and transportation, as both sector accounted for about 70 per cent of the funding needs of the continent.

Ahmed said, “By coming together, we should be able to create a unique African model for addressing the deficit. We have companies in South Africa and other countries, which have the resources to invest in infrastructure.

“If we can create a conducive environment for our own people in Africa to invest in their countries, we will be able to create a more effective environment for promoting this intra-Africa investment.”

“The major constraint in today’s environment is in electricity and transportation. This is because these two infrastructure services create the greatest impact on social development because they affect production,” he added.

Earlier, the Chairman ICRC governing board, Chief Ernest Shonekan, said that mobilising the financial resources necessary to drive the requisite investments had been a challenge for many countries of the world.