By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
The African Union
Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) has called for Africa to move beyond
building physical infrastructure and focus on creating the regulatory,
institutional and operational systems needed to turn cross-border connectivity
into deeper economic integration.
The agency said Africa has
demonstrated its ability to deliver major infrastructure projects at scale,
with approximately 25,000 kilometres of critical infrastructure developed
through investments of about US$10 billion under the Programme for Infrastructure
Development in Africa (PIDA).
These projects have
supported the development of roads, railways, energy networks and other
connections across the continent. However, AUDA-NEPAD said the full economic
value of many of these investments remains constrained by fragmented systems
surrounding the infrastructure.
According to the agency, the
Kazungula Bridge illustrates the challenge. While the bridge has improved
physical connectivity, unintegrated customs systems can continue to delay the
movement of people and goods across borders.
Similar challenges affect
regional energy infrastructure, where completed power interconnectors can face
delays because of unresolved tariffs and transmission rules. In aviation, the
Single African Air Transport Market has 38 signatories, but intra-African air
connectivity remains below its potential.
AUDA-NEPAD Chief Executive
Officer Nardos Bekele-Thomas said Africa’s next phase of transformation would
depend not only on infrastructure development but also on ensuring that
infrastructure operates effectively across national borders.
“Africa’s next
transformation will not be defined only by the infrastructure we build, but by
how effectively we enable it to work across borders,” Bekele-Thomas said. “We
must build the rules, institutions and trust that turn physical connections
into shared prosperity.”
The agency said the
distinction between physical connectivity and integration must now become
central to Africa’s infrastructure agenda. A bridge, it noted, does not
automatically constitute a functioning economic corridor, just as
infrastructure alone does not guarantee integration.
AUDA-NEPAD identified the
alignment of customs systems, regulations, tariffs, standards and
decision-making authorities as critical to unlocking the next wave of
productivity gains across the continent.
The agency also stressed
that legal and regulatory frameworks should be treated as core infrastructure,
with adequate funding, coordination and implementation alongside physical
construction.
