Luanda — The World Bank’s Director of Strategy, Vickram Cuttaree, on Tuesday in Luanda recommended that African states should institutionalize railway networks in the continent as a way to guarantee, in the long term, the sustainability of financing commitments for these structuring projects.
The official was speaking at a panel on the theme “Regional Corridors and Africa’s Integration Agenda: Accelerating Connectivity, Competitiveness and Trade”, within the framework of the III Summit on Infrastructure Financing in Africa, which is taking place in the Angolan capital.
According to the World Bank (WB) representative, African countries face difficulties in maintaining their commitments, especially when changes of government occur, which leads to a reduction in political will and discontinuity in the execution of agreements.
According to the manager, it is essential to create robust institutional mechanisms and governance structures that guarantee the continuity and coherence of public policies, so that railway and regional connectivity projects can move forward independently of political cycles.
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Vickram Cuttaree also highlighted the need to define clear priorities in infrastructure investment, emphasizing that funders do not have the capacity to support all projects simultaneously, therefore, it is necessary to identify the most critical sectors, such as rail transport, food security and energy.
The official added that infrastructure investment should be geared towards real results with a direct impact on increasing intra-African trade, creating jobs, and fostering sustainable economic growth.
The three-day event is being held under the theme “Capital, corridors, trade: investing in infrastructure for the AfCFTA and shared wealth”.
The event aims to attract new international funding and strengthen alignment with major national and regional development plans, with a projected mobilization of up to USD 160 billion for priority projects across the continent.
During the first day, topics such as “For an integrated, connected and prosperous Africa: mobilizing coordinated political will to finance infrastructure and intra-African trade” in addition to panels dedicated to “Financing and modernizing African civil aviation infrastructure, Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM)” and “Unlocking Africa’s corridors: how project preparation drives bankability and impact,” among others.
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