The African Development Bank (AfDB) has released a new report, saying that Africa needs about US$ 390 billion in the medium term to finance its infrastructure, PANA reported Wednesday.
”Africa’s infrastructure financing needs about US$ 390 billion in the medium term, mostly for power and energy and in the the US$ trillions in the longer term,” the bank stated in its latest 2012 Annual Report.
According to the AfDB report, it is estimated that Africa’s natural resource extractive industries will contribute over US$ 30 billion per annum in government revenues in the next 20 years.
”Revenues from natural resources could finance a substantial part of Africa’s infrastructure development. Some countries have already issued Eurobonds for infrastructure, on the basis of natural-resource revenues,” the report added.
AfDB also said that young people comprised the bulk of Africa’s one billion population, adding ”To convert this ‘youth bulge’ into a ‘demographic dividend’ will require investing in skills and the creation of job opportunities on a large and unprecedented scale.”
The need to promote Africa’s agriculture and the contribution of the private sector were also emphasized in the report.
On urbanization, the report stated ”Africa’s cities, with 40 per cent of the population in 2010 — projected to be 50 per cent in a generation, and 65 per cent by 2060 — are increasingly becoming the drivers of consumer demand and hence economic growth.”
