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.