Author/s: Ken Gwilliam, Vivien Foster, Rodrigo Archondo-Callao, Cecilia Briceño-Garmendia, Alberto Nogales, and Kavita Sethi
Sub-Saharan Africa’s road network is sparse, except when seen against the region’s ability to pay for maintenance. Underspending on maintenance is endemic, but road funds and agencies, fuel levies, and realistic engineering offer a way forward.
Author/s: Dorothée Boccanfuso, Antonio Estache, and Luc Savard
Higher prices under Senegal’s power concession are likely to have negative general-equilibrium effects on households, firms (except the utility), and the government. Compensatory transfers to the poor may not work, however, owing to price and wage effects.
In-house generation of electricity is a common response of large firms to the unreliability of power supplies in much of Africa. Although operating costs are high, generators protect firms from lost sales and allow them to meet export quality standards.
Author/s: Mark Svendsen, Mandy Ewing, and Siwa Msangi
Irrigation is rare in Africa except in a few countries, even it has the power to raise agricultural productivity. Larger investments in irrigation would improve food security and permit greater production of export-quality agricultural goods.
Author/s: Sudeshna Banerjee, Quentin Wodon, Amadou Diallo, Taras Pushak, Helal Uddin, Clarence Tsimpo, and Vivien Foster
Access to infrastructure services is more limited in Africa than in any other region. Service affordability is part of the problem; gaps in supply are another. Second-best options often can be used to expand access, notably in water and sanitation.
To plan investments in infrastructure, governments must know—in detail—how much those investments will cost and how costs are determined. A new database of unit costs of infrastructure projects in Sub-Saharan Africa provides the needed foundation.
Author/s: Cecilia Briceño-G., Karlis Smits, and Vivien Foster
Public spending for infrastructure in Africa falls far short of the amounts needed. But more resources can be made available be reallocating spending, fully executing budgets, spending more on maintenance, and cutting operating losses and inefficiencies.
Author/s: Ken Gwilliam, Vivien Foster, Rodrigo Archondo-Callao, Cecilia Briceño-Garmendia, Alberto Nogales, and Kavita Sethi
Sub-Saharan Africa’s road network is sparse, except when seen against the region’s ability to pay for maintenance. Underspending on maintenance is endemic, but road funds and agencies, fuel levies, and realistic engineering offer a way forward.
Sub-Saharan Africa has many ports, most small, inefficient, and ill-equipped for new patterns of trade and shipping. Momentum for change is coming from the growing presence of global shipping lines and international terminal operators in African ports.