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Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PID) stakeholders are bracing themselves for 7th PIDA week slated for 28th February to 4th March 2022 in Nairobi Kenya.
The 7th PIDA Week was scheduled to take place last December and was postponed due to the emergence of the omicron virus, which saw unfriendly stigmatization of most African countries by most of the international community.
Speaking during the 5th African Business forum in Ethiopia recently, the custodian of PIDA at African Union Commission, Dr Amani Aboud-Zeid in her capacity as the Commissioner of Infrastructure and Energy invited African leaders to attend the 7th Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) in order to seize an opportunity to review and reflect on the progress in the implementation of infrastructure programmes across the continent.
She noted that the hybrid event will be staged under the theme “Putting Africa on a firm footing for recovery, growth, and resilience through Infrastructure.”
It comes 13 months after the 6th PIDA Week held virtually last year under the theme “New decade, new realities, new priorities – positioning PIDA and infrastructure development in Africa’s continued growth and economic recovery”.
The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) Week is an annual conference held to accelerate infrastructure implementation on the continent. The 7th PIDA Week which takes place amidst the backdrop of global economic and social uncertainty marks the commencement of the Second Phase of the Programme (PIDA PAP II), which will run from 2021-2030, continuing the work done by PIDA priority Action plan which covered 2012-2020.
Dr Amani Aboud-Zeid noted that PIDA wholly supports the expedition of the African continental free trade area.
Speaking at the same event, the fifth African Business Forum, specifically on infrastructure development, Robert Lisinge, Chief of the Energy, Infrastructure and Services Section at UNECA, said roads currently carry the lion’s share of freight in Africa.
He pointed out that the AfCFTA provides an opportunity to build Africa’s railway network as it would increase intra-Africa freight demand by 28%; since the demand for maritime freight will increase the most. According to the research findings, AfCFTA requires 1,844,000 trucks for bulk cargo and 248,000 trucks for container cargo by 2030. This increases to 1,945,000 and 268,000 trucks respectively if planned infrastructure projects are also implemented.
The largest demand for trucks to support AfCFTA is within West Africa (39%); demand from West to Southern Africa is 19.8% and from Southern Africa to Western Africa by 9.9%. The key questions considered for research were how will implementation of AfCFTA affect demand for transport infrastructure and services? What would be the demand for different modes of transport, and what are the implications for investment in infrastructure development? What would be the infrastructure and equipment needs for different transport modes?
Mr Lisinge noted that AfCFTA and Africa’s transport infrastructure programmes are intrinsically linked and should be implemented simultaneously. He said the Trans-African Highways (TAH) & Programme for Infrastructure Development (PIDA) and the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) should be prioritised at the same level as AfCFTA.
Looking back to 2021’s commemoration of 6th PIDA week, in his remarks at the opening session: the Continental Business Network (CBN) Virtual Breakfast, Ibrahim Mayaki, outgoing CEO of AUDA-NEPAD, said the dearth of infrastructure project management capacity had been the hallmark of Africa’s infrastructure projects, noting that before PIDA came into being, the main obstacle faced was lack of prioritisation of regional projects, hence critical partners decided that it would be incoherent if there was no prioritization before implementing projects.
PIDA is the AU’s strategic framework for regional and continental infrastructure development, guiding its infrastructure development agenda, policies, and investment priorities; it provides a framework for engagement with Africa’s development partners on the provision of regional and continental infrastructure as well as facilitating the physical, economic and social integration of the continent in support of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This blueprint for infrastructure development in Africa was first adopted by African Union heads of state and Government in January 2012.
It is spearhead by leading Pan African institutions mandated by African union member states, being African Union Commission, African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), African Development Bank and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. This blueprint covers four sectors being transport, energy, ICT and transboundary water.
PIDA Week was inaugurated in 2015 as a forum to bring together key stakeholders in the implementation of the PIDA programme. From inception, it has provided an opportunity for stakeholders to review and reflect on progress in the implementation of the programme; discuss ways to overcome the key challenges and advance possible solutions; share lessons learnt and identify ways to improve implementation.
Since the first PIDA week held in Abidjan, Cote d’ Ivore in 2015, PIDA Week has progressed into a key forum for accelerating infrastructure implementation in Africa, but also as a link of infrastructure to the key themes of the development of regional integration, transformative economic growth and job creation.
In the second phase of PIDA (PIDA PAP 2) PIDA Week is poised to become the leading African platform for mobilising project preparation funds, and market sounding of bankable PIDA projects and other transboundary infrastructure projects on the continent.
According to a draft concept note of the 7th PIDA week, the session will provide a platform to advocate, mobilize project preparation resources and market projects as part of the PIDA communications strategy to communicate progress on priority PIDA projects and facilitate sharing of lessons and experiences on the implementation of PIDA projects.
Considering the lack of resilience as demonstrated by COVID-19, the session will bring together partners to engage in though partnership on building and sustaining resilience in Africa through infrastructure The week will serve as a platform to engage stakeholders and partners on the critical discourse around practical approaches to the realization of PIDA projects considering the partnership, implementation and financing strategies developed for PIDA PAP 2.
PIDA-PAP 2 selection criteria cover three categories being regional integration, inclusiveness and sustainability as well as economic and financial.
The 69 priority projects were adopted on February 2021 by AU heads of state and Governments, with an estimated cost of 160 billion USD dollars. Under PAP 2, 25 projects are under transport with an estimated cost of 106.4 billion us dollars, energy with an estimated 38.4 billion USD accounts for 18 projects, whereas with an estimated cost of 5.2 billion USD, ICT accounts for 11 projects and water has 15 projects at an estimated cost of 9.0 billion USD.
As per regional segregation, the Northern region accounts for 6 projects with an estimated cost of 16.5 billion USD, the southern accounts for 10 projects estimated at 13.8 billion USD, Central region with an estimated cost of 8.5 billion USD for 11 projects. The western region with an estimated cost of 40.5 billion USD accounts for 11 projects and the eastern region with 13 projects accounts for 37.8 billion USD and the remaining 17 projects, with an estimated cost of 40.6 billion USD are multi-regional projects.
The main objectives of the 7th PIDA Week are to provide a platform to showcase and deliberate on inclusiveness in infrastructure development in Africa through the PIDA Integrated Corridor Development Approach, showcase progress made in the implementation of PIDA projects and related initiatives and share lessons and experiences on the implementation of PIDA projects, provide an opportunity for project owners and stakeholders to network, mobilise resources for proposed and ongoing projects, address crucial issues around policy and project enabling environment, hence accelerating project implementation as well as showcase possible economic development opportunities along the PIDA Corridors as presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in various sectors as a necessary tool for continental integration towards boosting intra-African trade, job creation and economic development on the continent.