Infrastructure

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) was formed to tackle the challenges facing Africa including: i) persistent political conflicts; ii) weak states that needed strengthening of democratic, political and economic governance systems and institutions; iii) high levels of poverty ; iv) underdeveloped infrastructure; and v) savings and investment levels that have been declining for over 25 years.

The NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) was formed to operationalize the above objectives.

Apart from the HSGIC, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) were designated to coordinate issues for each of the regions of Africa namely Southern, Eastern and Western.

Within the framework, the African Development Bank (AfDB) was commissioned to collaborate with development partners and donors and other regional institutions on areas of infrastructure development and as a result they prepared the NEPAD Infrastructure Short Term Action Plan (STAP).

The Plan focuses on priority investments in Energy, Transport, Water and Sanitation and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and is complemented by capacity building, and policy, regulatory and institutional measures aimed at improving the efficiency of the existing infrastructure on the continent. AfDB in collaboration with the RECs and other Development Partners have also prepared a medium to long term Strategic Framework for infrastructure development.

A criterion to qualify projects for selection (STAP) was developed giving preference to projects that were at advanced stages of preparation and could be fast tracked; projects that supported regional approaches to infrastructure provision and regional integration as well as projects that had stalled for political reasons and where NEPAD intervention would make a difference in addition to projects that offered solutions to regional policy, regulatory or institutional constraints to regional infrastructure activities

To assist countries and regional bodies in the preparation of bankable infrastructure projects and programmes, the AfDB established a dedicated facility, the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD- IPPF) as a multi-donor facility.

More information about the NEPAD Infrastructure Programme, please click here view the NEPAD STAP >>>