Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has called on African governments to create an enabling environment for the private sector to participate more in developing Africa’s critical infrastructure.
The President said he believed public-private partnerships, supported by strong national institutions to ensure accountability and transparency, were key to closing the continent’s widening infrastructure gap.
The Head of State noted that Africa needs to work to address the lack of functional and quality infrastructure in energy, water and transport services to enable businesses to produce competitively in both domestic and international markets.
He said good infrastructure is the backbone for African countries to achieve economic growth, which in turn will create much-needed jobs for young people and generate wealth to address poverty issues.
President Kenyatta said, “High-quality infrastructure reduces transaction and other costs and enables efficient use of labor and capital, but more importantly, it strengthens connectivity between points of production and markets.”
The President was speaking while officially closing the first AfroChampions Boma Forum on Infrastructure Financing and Delivery in Africa, organized by the AfroChampions Initiative.
The AfroChampions Initiative is a series of innovative public-private partnerships and flagship programs aimed at revitalizing Africa’s resources and institutions and supporting the rise and success of Africa’s private sector in the regional and global spheres.
This initiative is being driven by Africa’s prominent private and public sector stakeholders.
President Kenyatta said the dream of connecting the continent cannot be realized unless a viable solution is found to mobilize the necessary infrastructure funds.
“We need to connect Africa, but this is not possible without investment in critical infrastructure,” he said, adding that Africa must diversify its economy by promoting value addition and manufacturing to create employment opportunities for the more than 10 million young people who enter the labor market each year.
“Certainly, industrialization is the way forward if we are to achieve and sustain shared prosperity and job creation for our people,” he continued.
President Kenyatta said the AfroChampions Initiative is important as it provides an excellent opportunity for government agencies, private financiers and other stakeholders to come together to share knowledge, expertise and experience that will lead to innovative solutions to challenges in financing and implementing world-class infrastructure systems in Africa.
The President reiterated Kenya’s commitment to continue supporting African businesses to thrive, noting that Nairobi is home to more than 50 international development agencies and several global multinational companies.
President Kenyatta also spoke about Pan-Africanism, saying Africa’s dream is for a continent full of promise to step into the modern world and confidently walk into a future of peace, prosperity and unity.
“This is the dream of our founding fathers, the great men and women who saw in our country the seeds of greatness and the great potential to be a force for good,” President Kenyatta said.
He pointed out that the golden path for Africa to its rightful destiny lies not in fierce competition between countries, but in coming together to build a common better tomorrow for all those privileged to call Africa home.
“The pan-African dream of peace, prosperity and unity will be furthered by the imminent entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement. This continental feat offers Africa a tremendous opportunity to become the world’s largest single market,” he said.
The President emphasized the need for African businesses to demonstrate cross-border leadership in key industries and for key hubs like Kenya to play their proper role as catalysts for the expansion and victory of Africa’s homegrown champions.
Heads of State informed the conference that Kenya has already taken a major step to facilitate the free movement of people within the continent by issuing visas on arrival to all African nationals.
The African Union’s High Representative for Infrastructure Development and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, speaking at a conference that brought together key public and private sector stakeholders from across the continent, expressed optimism that Africa can meet its infrastructure needs.
Mr. Odinga called on African countries to remove barriers to the free movement of people, goods and services by ending policies that inhibit private sector involvement in infrastructure development.
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