Africa must reduce infrastructure delays

Pravin Gordhan (Image: GCIS)

"There is a need to reduce the time it takes to deliver projects and create greater confidence among providers during the preparatory phase as well as to focus more on implementation‚" the minister said at the launch of two World Economic Forum on accelerating infrastructure investment in Africa.

"The key task is to show we can deliver. That is the bridge we are crossing now‚" Gordhan said.

One of the complaints to emerge during the conference was the difficulty of getting projects to a stage where they would be funded by investors.

African Development Bank president Donald Kaberuka said bankability of projects usually required 10% of total project costs to be paid‚ which many companies did not have. He said the bank was due to launch a facility later this month which will assist companies with these costs.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge