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Obstacles to progress

Realities

“ Studies, such as that by the Infrastructure Consortium of Africa (ICA), have shown that poor

road, rail and harbour infrastructure adds 30-40% to the costs of goods traded among African
countries.

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A recent World Bank study on infrastructure ...found that the poor state of infrastructure in sub-

Saharan Africa, that is electricity, water, roads and information and communications
technology (ICT), reduced national economic growth by two percentage points every year and
cut business productivity by as much as 40%.

It is estimated that about US$93-billion is needed annually over the next decade to overhaul
sub-Saharan African infrastructure. About two-thirds or $60-billion of that is needed for entirely

new infrastructure and $30-billion for the maintenance of existing infrastructure.
Only about $25-billion annually is being spent on capital expenditure, leaving a substantial

shortfall that has to be financed. “
"Addressing Africa's Infrastructure Challenges" 217
Deloitte

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Debt

"Should we really let our people starve so we can pay our debts."

Julius Nyerere
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Debt Overhang
"Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana Spend Twice More Debt Payment than Health."
"Ghana spends five times as much on interest payments as it does on healthcare"

- Yvonne Mhango, an analyst at Renaissance Capital
Yinka Adegoke 218
MSN (August 2020)
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“ In most countries in the Africa region (36 of 44), the public debt burden increased in 2015–16

compared with 2010–13. The median increase in general government gross debt was about
14.9 percentage points. The largest increases from 2010–13 to 2015–16 were in Mozambique

(from 44 to 102 percent of GDP), Cabo Verde (from 86 to 131 percent of GDP), and The Gambia
(from 77 to 113 percent of GDP).
10 Other notable countries with high public debt burdens are Mauritania (99 percent of GDP in

2015–16) and Ghana (72 percent of GDP in 2015–16). The public debt burden increased.
Ghana despite improvements in the primary surplus. This reflects the substantial size of

interest payments.