16 Infrastructure projects for African integration

Infrastructure development is a key driver for progress across the African continent and a critical enabler for sustainable and socially inclusive growth. The Programme for Infrastructure Development (PIDA) provides the strategic framework for priority projects to transform Africa through the construction of modern infrastructure into an interconnected and integrated continent that is competitive domestically and in the global economy.

The main objective of the Dakar Financing Summit (DFS) which took place in June 2014, was to mobilize key stakeholders to accelerate the implementation of PIDA. These stakeholders include lead government agencies, DFIs, private equity investors, infrastructure funds, commercial banks, pension funds, and insurance companies. The financiers have one goal in common which is a desire to identify and fund well prepared bankable projects in line with the growing investor appetite for infrastructure assets in Africa.

One way to expand the pipeline of bankable projects is to select a number of representative projects and begin to work systematically with national governments, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and financing partners to drive project implementation through the project preparation cycle. In this regard, the DFS pilots this approach by selecting 16 strategic and regionally balanced projects from the PIDA priority action plan (PAP), which are at different stages of the project development cycle.