By PROGRESS has been made in the implementation of Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) projects although the cost for implementing the projects remains high, an official has said.
Addressing delegates at the 3rd Pida week in Swakopmund Namibia the Africa Union Commission (AUC) director for infrastructure and energy Cheikh Bedda said a lot of progress has been made in the implementation of regional projects across the continent since the inception of the PIDA programme in 2012.
By Correspondent
“With regards to project development, as of December 2017, from the 433 PIDA Priority Action Plan projects, we are pleased to announce the following status following our data collection efforts 46 are at concept, 40 are at prefeasibility, 30 are at feasibility, 30 are at detailing structuring, 18 are at financing, 19 are at tendering, 83 are at construction and 50 are in operation,”Bedda said.
He said the African Development Bank acknowledge that even though cost of PIDA projects is very high, the cost of not implementing PIDA projects bears higher impacts to the sustainable development of the continent .
“It is imperative to analyse the ‘cost of inaction’, its impacts in the future economic growth of Africa,” Bedda said.
Bedda also said the AUC is in the process of carrying out a midterm review of PIDA on the ground and also to select projects for the next cycle of PIDA implementation, which is from 2020-2030.
“It is our strong expectation that the new phase of the programme will leverage partner support towards a comprehensive package of PIDA implementation strategy,” he added.
He said attention would now be focused towards rural and remote areas in Africa that are in dire need of access to basic infrastructure. Bedda said the proposed strategy will prioritise programmes that deliver roads, energy and ICT in rural and remote areas and that would help in achieving agenda 2063.
Bedda said if implemented effectively the Dar es salaam Port Expansion is expected to generate USD$2.6 billion revenue for Tanzanian and neighbouring countries while the Abidjan Lagos Corridor is expected to boost trade of goods and performance of other sectors such as tourism, mining and agriculture in West Africa.
He said the Inga power project is geographically beneficial to the entire continent and will lead to increased power trade and supply to millions of Africans.
PIDA week is being held in Namibia to advance infrastructure development in the African continent. PIDA is a reference programme for regional and continental infrastructure development in Africa aims to facilitate economic and social integration on the African continent through continental and regional markets in line with the AU Agenda 2063 aspirations. The total estimated cost of implementing all the PIDA projects is USD$360 billion by 2040.
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