By Mandira Bagwandeen *
On 21 March 2018, 44 African countries signed a historic free trade agreement at the 10th Extraordinary African Union Summit in Kigali, Rwanda. Heralded as a milestone in the continent’ s road to integration, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement( AfCFTA) has been lauded by commentators as a catalyst for a better trading and investment environment. A dearth in regional trade infrastructure, however, presents challenges. Africa’ s Regional Economic Communities( RECs), and their commitment to developing the needed infrastructure is of paramount importance. Amongst Africa’ s eight RECs, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa( COMESA), recognises the importance of transport, ICT, energy, and trans-boundary water infrastructure in its efforts to become an internationally competitive REC by 2025. 1
Show of Commitment
The current worth of intra-regional trade within COMESA is $ 20 billion, with the potential for over $ 82.3 billion. 2 The lack of cross-border infrastructure networks, however, is a significant trade barrier as it hinders intra-industry exchange between businesses in the region. 3 As such, addressing the lack of quality infrastructure is key to COMESA’ s agenda of“ inclusive and sustainable industrialisation”. In November 2012, regional members resolved to fast-track the joint infrastructure projects needed to enhance regional development.
The COMESSA Infrastructure Fund( CIF) is further demonstrative of the dedication to establishing an“ efficient and dependable economic infrastructure system” in the region. Although still being finalised, the CIF is intended to leverage resources from public and private investors’ funds, acting as seed capital. According to COMESA, the fund aims to raise $ 2 billion, at least, for bankable infrastructure projects across various sectors.
Infrastructure Projects
With a combined value of $ 60.7 billion, COMESA members have( to date) undertaken various infrastructure projects aimed at improving regional economic development. 4 Some notable projects are mentioned below:
Transport
In the transport sector, massive road projects have been undertaken along major transport corridors, including the Djibouti Corridor, Lamu Corridor, the Northern Corridor, Central Corridor, Dar es Salaam Corridor and the North- South Corridor. Additionally, there are several plans for new railways modernisation efforts along the Djibouti-Lamu- Nacala line. A notable inland water transport project is the Shire-Zambezi Waterways project, a 283 km canal estimated to cost $ 6 billion. 5 The aim of the project is to provide Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia with cost-effective and reliable modes of water transport.
22 • COMESA • 2018