The 2024 Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) Week opened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a clarion call for key players to leverage transformative financing and regional integration for sustainable development of the infrastructure sector.

Participants agreed that greater economic activity, enhanced efficiency and increased competitiveness on the continent were continually being hampered by inadequate transport, communication, water and power infrastructure.

“Inadequate infrastructure increases the continent’s production and transaction costs, which reduces its competitiveness in the global market,” said Claver Gatete, Under Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Gatete further noted that Africa’s infrastructure deficit lowers its per capita economic growth by 2% a year and reduces the productivity of its firms by as much as 40%. (Press Release)