Infrastructure key to Africa’s development
Lazarus Sauti
Poorly planned and under-developed infrastructure is one of the greatest
impediments to improved intra-Africa trade and is proving to be a problem to
improving the lives of the continent’s citizenry.
This is the view of the President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP),
Bethel Amadi of Nigeria, who also points out that the continent’s trade-related
infrastructure has hardly been improved upon since colonialism.
“Lack of reliable infrastructure affects all components of the economic
value chain, making delivery slower, less reliable and more expensive,” Amadi
said.
Sharing the same sentiments with Amadi, Namibia Chamber of Commerce and
Industry chief executive Tarah Shaanika said infrastructure development will
enhance direct trade among African states.
Speaking at the sidelines of the Zimbabwe-Namibia business forum held in
Harare recently, Shaanika urged the SADC bloc to prioritise infrastructure
development as this will enhance viable and sustainable trade.
“Africa should start investing in itself. This means that more work needs
to be done towards creating infrastructure to make trading between African
countries easy,” said Shaanika.
He goes on to say, “Inter-regional and inter-continental trade should be
made sustainable.”
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