Africa losing out on intra-regional trade of $30bn

Africa is losing more than US$30 billion in trade due to lack of effective infrastructure development, African Development Bank (AfDB) country director to Zambia, Freddie Kwesiga, has said, according to the African press.
The Zambian.com reports Kwesiga as saying that due to a lack of efficient infrastructure, countries were losing a lot of money. “Most of African countries do not trade together due to limited infrastructure; that is why they trade with countries abroad,” he reportedly said.
Afrimoney.com reported that AfDB had set up a transformation strategy that would run from 2013 to 2022 to change the landscape of trade in Africa. The strategy will, amongst others, scale up agricultural financing and technology as well as supporting regional integration.
More than $35 million has been committed towards reducing fragility while $100m would be spent on research, building bridges, roads and markets which were aimed at increasing trade, Kwesiga was widely reported as saying.