Songwe and Odinga discuss benefits of fast-tracking Africa’s transboundary infrastructure

Abstract

The Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Vera Songwe, and the African Union’s High Representative for Infrastructure Development, Raila Odinga, met in Addis Ababa Thursday and discussed ways through which the ECA can support his work to ensure the continent speedily tackles its infrastructure challenges. The two agreed that fast-tracking transboundary infrastructure on the continent was the only way to ensure full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) for the benefit of its citizens. They discussed ways to accelerate regional integration and agreed Africa needed to fast-track transboundary energy and transport infrastructure, including key road corridors, if that is to become a reality soon. The two focused on some of Africa’s key transboundary infrastructure projects such as transnational highway corridors identified as part of the Trans-African Highways Network, the Lamu Port, South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET corridor programme), which is Eastern Africa’s largest and most ambitious infrastructure project, and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Grand Inga Dam, among others.