THOUGH hard-hit by climate change repercussions and tremendously burdened by the requirements of recovering from the effects of the global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Africa is trying to keep the momentum of its march for sustainable development. It’s a strenuous task indeed at all national, regional and continental levels. To maintain this momentum, Africa needs in the first place to realise the integration of potentials and projects, benefiting from the acquisition of tremendous human and natural resources. Noting that Africa is a vast continent of nearly 30 million square kilometres, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi stressed in remarks during an African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) event last week that economic integration remains Africa’s topmost challenge; hence the need for founding such continent-wide and complemented infrastructure that supports the realisation of sustainable development.
It’s a primal challenge indeed, given the continent’s vast area and a population in the 1.4 billion range, in addition to existing variations in the kinds of production and the status of the services delivered to people, including of course those living in remote or barren zones. It’s also a key challenge since infrastructure building, maintenance and development necessitate huge funding at a time when African countries have had to introduce reallocations in order to effectuate climate adaptation programmes and recover from economic impacts of nearly two years of pandemic-induced shutdowns, closures, social distancing and travel restrictions. Under the circumstances, the infrastructure development and integration requires a combination of allocations by governments and energetic investments to set up such projects with a capacity for integration and connectivity.
The challenge is making itself all the more felt with the population growth. For now, Africa’s population growth rate is considered the world’s biggest and is characetrised by its large youth component. They have dreams for a better future which can be realised mainly through spreading infrastructure connectivity projects especially including electric energy, roads, railways, sea and airports—a process which enjoys the two advantages of creating larger job opportunities and maximising the utilisation of the continent’s industrial and agricultural potentials.
Regarding the role of trade in promoting the continental infrastructure development and connectivity, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) represents an existing and promising asset. Endorsed by African leaders at an extraordinary summit in 2018, the arrangement entered into effect as of the commencement of 2021, envisaging the transformation of the continent into the world’s largest free trade area with a huge population of more than 1.4 billion people.
This brings us close again to the issue of infrastructure founding, development, integration and connectivity since it is through these four processes that Africa can look forward to the achievement of sustainable development as so envisaged under both the United Nations SDGs and the continent’s own framework accord, Africa Vision 2063.
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