Governments will have to collaborate more closely with private companies to raise the kind of funds necessary to address Africa’s infrastructure problems. While some 800 projects are currently under way on the continent – many of which are addressing the road, rail and port capacity of Africa – financing remains a very real challenge. According to Bas de Vaal, managing director of Portside International, which has been operating in West Africa for several years, the necessary upgrades at the Port of Tema, which include deepening the draught to ten metres, require $1 billion dollars.
