Infrastructure placed at the heart of Africa's economic recovery

Infrastructure has been identified as the key element to Africa's economic rebound at the 6th Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa, a weeklong event aimed at engaging and exchanging information on progress in the implementation of the initiative.

The meeting commenced virtually on Monday and will run until Thursday. Hosted by the African Union Development Agency, the event is being held under the theme "New Decade, New Realities, New Priorities – Positioning (the infrastructure program) and Infrastructure Development in Africa's Continued Growth and Economic Recovery."

In his remarks at the opening session, Ibrahim Mayaki, chief executive of the African Union Development Agency, said scarcity of infrastructure project management capacity had been the hallmark of Africa's infrastructure projects.

"Before (the infrastructure program) came into being, the main obstacle we faced was lack of prioritization of regional projects. So, critical partners decided that it would be incoherent if we didn't prioritize before implementing projects. We need prioritization in order to foster alignment," Mayaki said.

"We need to start reflecting on how to attract the private sector into these projects. This thinking led to the creation of the Continental Business Network. This network is an African heads of state initiative, which is a gathering of institutional or private sector investors from all over the continent who can help us think better about the issue of tackling the financing gap by responding to the desire, need, objectives and constraints of the private sector," he added.

In his remarks today, Khaled Sherif, the African Development Bank's vice-president for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, said Africa needs to double investments in infrastructure to $150 billion by 2025 to ensure the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement is a success.

"Infrastructure has always been the African Development Bank's core business. This is why we are more committed than ever to facilitating the necessary infrastructure needed to make the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement a success," Sherif said.