Infrastructure
65 % of those connected to electricity
and water utilities services do not appear to be paying for them, partly due
torelatively high charges (e.g., above
5% of income). Secondly, there is an
overwhelming legacy of underfunding
for infrastructure maintenance (which
usually attracts exorbitant costs for
rehabilitating maintenance) – leaving
utility companiesdry and unable to
maintain their assets.
Just as the City of Rome could not have
survived if not for its aqueducts and
paved roads, many Sub-Saharan Africa
countries face a simple choice: catch
up with infrastructure development to
sustain a modern lifestyle or else dig out
caves to cater for an alternative lifestyle,
while they still can – future generations
will certainly not thank them for choosing the latter.
For instance, a 2013 KPMG Report suggests that the increase in annual water
demand in Sub-Saharan Africa may reach
440 Billion m3by 2030, a staggering
283% if compared to 2005 – while China
or India will only increase demand in volume, therefore in infrastructure capacity,
by ± 60%.The excessively high rate of
urbanisation in Sub-Saharan countries
is the main contributor here; rural areas
are not able to offer citizens the kind of
lifestyle they hear is only found in big
cities. Africa has experienced the highest urban growth during the last two
decades at 3.5% per year and this rate
of growth is expected to hold into 2050,
with up to 65% of “urban” population in
Sub-Saharan countries classified as slum
dwellers – the highest in the world.
How do we even begin to breach an
infrastructure gap of such continental
proportions? We may need to consider
our infrastructure challenges in terms of
areas of deficits and inefficiencies. It is
commo