We've done a lot this week!
We've touched on why infrastructure , we've tickled who is involved in African infrastructure and we've delved a bit into how infrastructure service delivery works from conception all the way to people receiving the infrastructure service, and we looked at that in the most generic of ways. Yesterday, we peeked into the recipe for the secret sauce that makes the project development process work, the enabling environment. We've looked at what infrastructure is from the level of the space shuttle flying over our beautiful blue planet, and we broke it down into economic and social infrastructure.
And it's Friday today, Steemit went AWOL for a while and our brains are all fried
So let's not make this too hard today. Let's get more specific about what infrastructure initiatives are underway in Africa, without getting too deep into the mechanics.
This will help us set the scene for looking closer at how the big infrastructure projects get funded, then consider ways the private sector can make a major difference on this stunning continent of ours.
Relax - I'm not going to make you read too much today. Today is picture day.
Let's look at the continent by economic infrastructure sector
Okay! Let's do it that way.
Where do we look?
One of the best places to look for summary information on what's happening in African infrastructure development is the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa, a group I mentioned in that first post. Their annual reports are good hunting grounds if you want a comprehensive understanding of who, what, where and when. Not why, but those four other Ws are super helpful. I've taken extracts from their 2015 Annual Report
I also thought I'd give you an idea of what the first Programme for Infrastructure Development Priority Action Plan (PAP) looked like for each sector when it was first communicated back in 2011.
Each of these next sector sections has a snapshot of current projects in that sector on the continent, according to the ICA, and the original PIDA PAP thinking on where the continent should be in terms of physical connection and regional integration by 2020 and then 2040.
Energy
Continental overview, from the ICA's 2015 annual report:
The PIDA PAP thinking:
Water
Continental overview, from the ICA's 2015 annual report:
The PIDA PAP thinking:
Transport
Continental overview, from the ICA's 2015 annual report:
The PIDA PAP thinking:
Information and Communications Technologies (ICT)
Continental overview, from the ICA's 2014 annual report:
The PIDA PAP thinking:
Did I say the pictures would be simple?
I may have exaggerated a teeny bit just to get you to look. Shame on me.
Closing out today
I think we can start to see the magnitude of the challenge that African infrastructure planners and financiers have to come to grips with - just on economic infrastructure connecting our continent with itself, energy, transport, water and ICT linkages.
Have a great weekend all.
Thank goodness for Pixabay, GIPHY and Star Trek.
