AU sets up infrastructure task team

The African Union has established a task team to focus on infrastructure delivery on the continent in order to create a more harmonised approach. The decision was taken, said AU chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, to halt the fragmented approach to infrastructure development. “We have to work together to make sure we are addressing our infrastructure needs as a continent and not just country-specific. We must talk rail in our individual countries but at the same time we must look at integrating that rail across borders.” She said unless Africa worked together as a whole, taking a less fragmented approach, the continent would not truly address its infrastructure backlog. “Just over 30 years ago China was as poor as Malawi – and look at them now. No reason why Africa can’t have the same success story. We need to stop being prisoners of our past and embrace the opportunities on this continent.” Dlamini Zuma said African statistics remained shocking and illustrated how much had to be done. “Only 20% of roads in Africa are paved, while the entire continent only generates the same amount of energy as Spain – one country. We have to move beyond these shocking statistics and embrace the opportunity that they offer.” She said the AU task team would work closely with the Regional Economic Communities (Recs) in order to establish the true state of infrastructure need and spend. “It is only when we work together as one that we will see exports grow, skills developed and jobs created. If we want to truly capture the moment in Africa we are going to have to do it as a continent together.” Dlamini Zuma said if Africa wanted to continue its growth into the future it was imperative that the lack of infrastructure be addressed. “And that is not an easy task. The road ahead is not going to be easy, with financing probably the biggest hurdle.” INSERT ‘We need to stop being prisoners of our past and embrace the opportunities on this continent.’ CAPTION Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma … ‘less fragmented approach is key.’