Africa, “white elephants’’ continent to brainstorm

Africa is being advised to avoid the
“white elephants” of the past and governments should improve
infrastructure planning and assessment.

 

The governments should also assess risks from execution, avoid cost overruns and carefully assess expected maintenance costs.

 

According to the Brookings Institute,
policymakers should separate political promises from technical decisions
that should be based on appropriate evaluation methods to assess costs
and benefits.

 

These and others would be discussed
during the two-day annual Infrastructure Africa Business Forum which
would be held in October in Johannesburg.

 

The Forum which would be hosted in
October 2018, 9 -10, at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg,
South Africa would also address some of the opportunities and explore
the business case linked to the development of African
infrastructure.

 

The forum is coming at time that Africa poses unique opportunities for the development of infrastructure across the continent.

 

The conference and showcase exhibition
provides an opportunity for companies to focus on the continent’s growth
hotspots, discuss infrastructure trends, meet project developers and
relevant government authorities, whilst exploring
infrastructure business opportunities.

 

The event partner is the NEPAD Planning & Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency).

 

Large infrastructure projects are expensive, complex and require adequate and transparent planning and preparation.

 

The Business Forum will focus on
infrastructure development project opportunities with focused project
presentations from various Africa countries.

 

The aim of the event is to bring the
projects to the developers. This is the 7th annual edition of the
Infrastructure Africa Business Forum, which has attracted a stellar
line-up of speakers and participants.

 

Africa needs to expand the availability
of project preparation financing and attract new sources of capital. The
Business Forum will discuss how to take infrastructure projects from
identification through concept design to financial
close.

 

Expert speakers will discuss key issues
such as: Feasibility testing and financial and legal structuring;
Capital-raising; the need to implementing new laws and regulations;
establishing new institutions and processes to support
project cycle and downstream project life-cycle activities; and project
preparation for PPPs and regional projects.