Africa’s Infrastructure Deficit – the causes
1. Political will –the lack thereof
When one discusses political will it becomes a bit ironic, because African Governments still finance up to 40% of their Infrastructure projects, according to Deloitte’s Infrastructure Trends report of 2016. In Botswana this number could easily be well over 80%. This may translate to many as political will, but under careful examination it becomes all it is –just numbers. The main reason why I have put this reason on top of everything is that every one of the other identified problems has a lot to do with Africa’s geopolitical landscape. Elections and political considerations for example, can shift the composition of public spending toward “more visible” current expenditures instead of capital expenditures, and this leads to a lot of White Elephants (AfDB 2018 Economic Outlook).
The same report indicates that institutionalised corruption reduces the efficiency of public investment as corrupt officials give priority to projects that generate higher private material and political gains over projects with higher social returns. This goes to show that a lot of spending on Infrastructure cannot be seen as tantamount to political will, it also demonstrates that perhaps focus should shift from shortage of funding to the scrutiny of how funds are spent. In many countries, reports indicate that not only is there an infrastructure deficit, but the existing infrastructure, such as power plants and paved roads, is not regularly maintained. Bureaucrats may let the infrastructure deteriorate so that renovation and redevelopment will require more funds to siphon off.
When one delves into the other main problem of weak policy framework, he cannot do so without mentioning our Government structures, which are the most empowered to make such needed changes to policy. In fact, it has come to light over the years that most projects seem too complex for public officers, leaving a lot of room for wrong interpretation of Contract Data and ultimate failure of projects. We have discussed our problems a lot over the years, and it is my belief that solutions lie mainly with the willingness of our politicians to work with the industry in addressing them. Policy Framework for example can be spearheaded by the Industry, but only if those in power provide a conducive platform for an exchange of ideas, and implementation of such solutions.