President Paul Kagame on Thursday took part in deliberations at the 2nd Dakar Financing Summit for Africa’s Infrastructure Development.
Kagame also participated in a panel discussion alongside and Senegalese President Macky Sall, Prime Minister of Egypt Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister of Algeria Aïmene Benabderrahmane, African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki , and leaders in infrastructure investment from the private sector.
A recent World Bank report showed that the poor state of infrastructure in many parts of Africa reduces national economic growth by two percentage points each year and causes business productivity to decline by up to 40%.
According to organisers, the summit aims to generate and galvanise private sector interest in specific regional infrastructure projects and to mobilise substantial funds dedicated to the preparation of these projects.
“For Africa, it means reducing the cost of doing business, boosting regional trade and becoming more resilient against future shocks. Ultimately, infrastructure is a means to create prosperity and opportunity for our people. We cannot be satisfied with business as usual,” President Kagame said in his remarks earlier on Thursday.
Meanwhile,President Macky Sall said,“We can never say it enough: infrastructure is the nerve of development, and the common thread of integration; because it is what sustains economic activity and ensures the mobility essential to the integration process.”
President Macky Sall also noted, “the problem of financing will remain unresolved as long as the rules and practices of global economic and financial governance persist, which hinder our countries’ access to substantial resources, and under sustainable conditions.”
For Africa to develop world-class infrastructure, key stakeholders – governments, business, investors and development partners must come together to find ways to more effectively finance infrastructure projects.
This summit has brought together the highest decision-makers from the public and private sectors.
At the Summit also there is Presidential Roundtable and ministerial dialogues providing the space to find practical ways to accelerate the implementation of Priority Action Plan (PIDA) by improving the outlook for financing of project preparation and aligning project needs with existing funding initiatives.
The three-day summit (from 1-3 February) is taking place under the theme; “Maintaining the momentum towards world-class infrastructure in Africa”.
The Summit is being hosted by the Republic of Senegal, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Union Development Agency – NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) in partnership with the African Development Bank and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.