Africa needs China-NEPAD

Dr Mayaki

DOREEN NAWA

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

THE New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) says the China-Africa relationship is not romantic.

NEPAD chief executive officer Ibrahim Mayaki said China is an economic power that Africa has to deal with in order to realize the continent’s industrialization dream.

Dr  Mayaki said the current configuration of the world places china as a critical actor because china has money.

“In terms of reserves, China has trillions. We cannot do without China. The question is we need to be profoundly conscious of our interests when dealing with China, this is not a romantic relationship. It’s not that we love them and they love us, no, there is no love into that.  It has to be based on our interests,” Dr Mayaki said.

Dr Mayaki was speaking in an interview yesterday at the sidelines of the on-going 2018 Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) Week themed “Realising Africa’s Integration through Smart Infrastructure and Good Governance” in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Dr Mayaki said Africa needs to know its interests which are fundamentally to protect and create the jobs of the continents youthful population.

“Africa has 400 million youths that need employment. In every African country today, we have the common factor of youths protesting. We have to be very careful and if we do not accelerate the industrialization dream, then we are in trouble,” Dr Mayaki said.

He said China has to help Africa industrialize by transferring the necessary skills that can help the continent in its quest to industrialize.

“Africa should not be a dumping ground for Chinese products and Chinese medicine. Just like Japan did for China, we need China to do the same to Africa.  When you see most brands of television sets like Panasonic, it is a Japanese brand but made in China. We want to see Huawei made in Africa,” Dr Mayaki said.

He said China should localize their technology, products and services thereby helping in transforming Africa.

For Africa to develop, Dr Mayaki said the continent has to prioritise industrialization adding that China is a recent example of how industry can drive economic transformation.

He said Africa must develop its industries in manufacturing, technology, agriculture, banking and finance, transport which will result in large scale production of goods that will be available to the African consumers at much cheaper rates.

Through industrialisation, Dr Mayaki says Africa can guarantee that its people will enjoy a rise in the standard of living.

Good governance key to Africa's infrastructure growth-AfDB

Ms Moono Mutopola (far right) during a panel discussing at the 2018 PIDA week.

DOREEN NAWA

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

GOOD Governance is key to Africa’s regional integration, African Development Bank (AfDB) Director for Regional Development and Regional Integration, Moono Mupotola has said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the on-going 2018 Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) Week in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Ms Mupotola said there is need to reflect on the challenges and pace of infrastructure development on the continent.

Ms Mupotola said good governance in the implementation of infrastructure projects is also key to building confidence of donors and financiers.

Further, Ms Mupotola noted that with good governance, Africa can grow investor confidence and this would certainly attract more investor interest and capital to the continent.

“Establishing good governance frameworks and mechanisms for sub-Sahara Africa infrastructure projects would not only boost investor confidence, it would also guarantee timely delivery of projects, within budget and to specification,” Ms Mupotola said.  

She said AfDB’s role as financier, facilitator and honest broker in the actualization of infrastructure projects is helping to build the much-needed capacity and institutional frameworks on the continent.

“These will be crucial for establishing good governance and structuring disciplined financing required to deliver smart infrastructure in energy supply, regional transport corridors, internet connectivity as well as trans-boundary water management,” Ms Mupotola said.

Commenting on the 2018 PIDA Week themed, ‘Realizing Africa’s Integration through Smart Infrastructure and Good Governance,’ Ms Mupotola said given that the interests and challenges in developing infrastructure are common across countries, international good practices can help governments better seize opportunities and meet related challenges.

“One natural starting point in this case is to assess the challenges that arise when governance arrangements fall short of stipulated requirements and benchmark.

She said poor governance is a major reason why infrastructure projects fail to meet their timeframe, budget and service delivery objectives.

Ms Mupotola said infrastructure projects with deficient governance often result in cost overruns, delays, underperformance, underutilization, accelerated deterioration due to poor maintenance, and, occasionally, expensive “white elephants” and bridges-to-nowhere.

She noted that notable progress has been in some of the priority infrastructure projects in Africa.

Some of the projects being showcased at the 2018 PIDA Week, include regional infrastructure transport projects like the Central Corridor Dar es Salaam to Chalinze Toll Road, the Kinshasa-Brazzaville Road and Railway Bridge, the High-Speed Rail Network (HSRN), the Abidjan-Lagos corridor and Praia-Dakar-Abidjan corridor projects; and the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) initiative. Regional power projects will also be showcased, so here we have the Ethiopia-Sudan Power Interconnector, Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya Power Interconnection, Batoka Hydropower Plant, and Inga III Hydropower project.