The 2017 PIDA Week ended in Swakopmund, Namibia, on Wednesday with delegates calling on Member States to commit themselves to the development of Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) projects on the ground and to renew their focus to infrastructure development in rural and remote areas, among others.

Of major importance to the Economic Commission for Africa was the adoption by delegates of the PIDA Model Law which was developed by the ECA to harmonize cross-border rules, regulations, laws and policies governing transboundary infrastructure projects in Africa.

Delegates agreed to expand the law to address issues such as skills transfer, job creation and training.

“We are happy that delegates to the Third PIDA Week have given their support to the model law. I believe that this law, if adopted and domesticated, will address the impediments that have been blocking investors from putting their money in transboundary infrastructure projects on the continent,” said Adeyinka Adeyemi, Senior Advisor and Head of the Regional Integration and Infrastructure Cluster in the ECA’s Capacity Development Division (CDD).

The proposed model law facilitates private sector investment and financing in transboundary infrastructure projects; ensures transparency, efficiency, accountability and sustainability of transboundary infrastructure projects; harmonises cross-border regulation of transboundary infrastructure projects; and promotes intra-African trade and opens domestic markets to international trade.

The law is expected to be adopted by African Heads of State at their January Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia after which the ECA and its partner in this project, NEPAD, will help countries to domesticate the law to fit their needs.

Meanwhile, delegates also agreed that Africa should up its game in mobilizing domestic resources to fund the complete implementation of five selected projects and promote the maximal use of local content within the beneficiary countries and regions.

The five projects are the Central Corridor (Dar es Salaam to Chalinze Toll Road), Kinshasa-Brazzaville Road and Railway Bridge, Ethiopia-Sudan Power Interconnector, Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya Power Connection and the Batoka Hydropower Plant.

In their final communiqué, delegates recommended that for Africa to build on progress made through the implementation of PIDA PAP, there was need for some strategic focus on a number of things.

This includes fast tracking the assessment of the PIDA mid-term review and engaging the preparation of the PIDA PAP 2 (2020-2030) with an updated list of the priority projects; promote integrated corridor development using data-driven decision-making models to prioritise projects for commercial viability and promote the setting up of legal frameworks and instruments for corridor management.

The communiqué emphasizes the use of cross-sectoral approaches, including the water-food-energy nexus approach, to promote and demonstrate the economic viability of water projects on the continent; and the need to ensure ICT is fully integrated in PIDA projects so broadband is available, affordable and that there is sufficient bandwidth for new services such as Data centers to support and promote online start-ups.

Delegates also said there’s need to raise awareness on the importance of the digital economy as an integral part of PIDA and Africa’s development and promote the online domain name industry and raise public awareness on DoTAfrica (.Africa) as a continental identity for African companies and citizens online.

The third PIDA Week was held under the theme ‘Regional Infrastructure Development for Job Creation and Economic Transformation’ from and ends Thursday with the tour of Namibia’s Walvis Bay Corridor.

Final Communiqué of the Third PIDA Week

We, Ministers and delegates to the Third PIDA Week and the organizing and partners institutions (African Union Commission (AUC), NEPAD Agency, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the Government of Namibia, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the German Cooperation, the European Union (EU), the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), Turkey and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)), member states as well as distinguished invitees:

1. Express our sincere gratitude to the Government of Namibia, its people and SADC for hosting this PIDA Week and for the hospitality accorded to us;

2. Reaffirm the crucial role of PIDA sectors (transport, energy, ICT and Water) in the achievement of the main goals of the AU Agenda 2063 for continental integration, prosperity and peace;

3. Affirm our commitment to develop integrated and efficient systems through the application of sound policy and development strategies with a view to enhancing efficiency, sustainability and affordability of transport, energy, ICT and Water services;

4. Acknowledge the diligent work accomplished during 2017 which was presented in the PIDA Annual Implementation report;

5. Take note of the detailed status reports on the following projects: the Central Corridor (Dar Es Salam to Chalinze Toll Road), the Kinshasa Brazzaville Rail and Road Bridge, the Ethiopia-Sudan Interconnector, the Zambia Tanzania Kenya Power Interconnector and the Batoka Gorge Hydropower Project and INGA III Hydropower Project;

6. Encourage the involvement of African and international private sector as well as emerging partners to promote technical and financial contribution to PIDA projects.

Agree to:

1. Pursue the mobilization of funding for the complete implementation of PIDA projects including the showcased projects: Dar-Chalinze Toll Road on the Central Corridor, Kinshasa-Brazzaville Rail/road Bridge, the Ethiopia-Sudan Interconnector, the Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya Interconnector, Batoka Gorge Hydropower project and the Inga III Hydropower Project.

2. Call upon member states, development partners and members of the Continental Business Network (CBN) to provide adequate resources including domestic resources for the PIDA project preparation facilities: the PIDA Service Delivery Mechanism (SDM) and the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (IPPF) among others;

3. Engage partner organisations, as well as bilateral development partners to provide the necessary technical and financial support to the implementation of PIDA Priority Action Plan projects by 2020;

4. Urge the NEPAD Agency in consultation with the AUC to coordinate continental stakeholders toward the establishment of the Single Air Transport Market (SAATM) and inclusive implementation of the Abuja Declaration and Framework for a Plan of Action for Development of Aviation Infrastructure in Africa within the Move Africa initiative and PIDA work plans.

Recommend:

1. Fast track the PIDA mid-term review and the preparation of the PIDA PAP 2 (2020-2030) with an updated list of priority projects;

2. Promote integrated corridor development using data-driven decision-making models to prioritise projects for commercial viability and promote the setting up of legal frameworks and instruments for corridor management;

3. Support the full implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD) towards establishment of the SAATM within the framework of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063, Support the implementation of the 2017 Abuja framework action plan for aviation infrastructure development, Promote the EAC Upper Flight Information Region (UFIR) as a replicable model for a single African Airspace and Urge all member states that have not signed the solemn commitment towards the establishment of the SAATM to do so and promote aviation infrastructure development in Africa to sustain the traffic growth;

4. Support the PIDA Model Law for Investment in Transboundary Infrastructure and domesticate it to address issues such as skills transfer, job creation and training;

5. Use cross-sectoral approaches including the water-food-energy nexus approach to promote and demonstrate the economic viability of water projects on the continent;

6. Engage partner organisations, as well as bilateral development partners to promote and provide the necessary technical and financial support for the implementation of the INGA 3 Hydropower and High Speed Rail projects within the framework of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063;

7. Ensure that ICT is fully integrated with other PIDA sector projects to support and promote job creation and entrepreneurship;

8. Raise awareness on the importance of the digital economy as an integral part of PIDA and Africa’s development, Promote the online domain name industry and raise public awareness on DoTAfrica (.Africa) as a continental identity for African organisations, companies and citizens;

9. Operationalise data collection, validation and reporting strategy to ensure smooth and coordinated flow of data on PIDA projects and programmes;

10. Operationalise the 5% Agenda by encouraging African sovereign wealth funds and pension funds to invest a greater part of their assets in Africa’s development including the implementation of PIDA projects;

11. Operationalise the MoveAfrica Traffic Light System along the 4 Border Posts – Beit Bridge, Chirundu, Kasumbalesa and Kazungula – on the North South Corridor and share good practice lessons with other regions.

Delegates of the 2017 PIDA WEEK