The emphasis on building new infrastructure in South Africa, as well as the rest of Africa, was to the detriment of the continent’s existing infrastructure, creating a maintenance deficit, Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) learning and development department head Eric Mahamba-Sithole argued at a recent seminar.

He pointed to the World Bank’s Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostics study, which showed that about 40% of Africa’s infrastructure required maintenance.

The seminar hosted the first intake of students to the Pan-African Capacity Building Pro- gramme’s (PACBP)’s two-year master’s degree in public administration. The students, who are all government officials, hailed from across Africa and came to these shores to participate in a series of site visits to the operations of State-owned utilities Eskom, Rand Water and the South African National Roads Agency, as part of their training.

In 2010, the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), in partnership with the IDC and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), announced a R55-million capacity building fund to support the PACBP. The AFD contributes 54%, while the IDC and the DBSA fund the remaining 46%.

PACBP chairperson Professor Brian Figaji told Engineering News that the objective of the master’s degree was to improve Africa’s human capacity to undertake maintenance of the continent’s infrastructure, with the focus falling on enhancing the skills of government employees in municipalities and utilities in Africa.

He said the master’s degree was currently offered at the University of Pretoria (UP), the University of Dakar, in Senegal, and Uganda’s Makerere University, in Kampala, in classes of 25 students. Besides these three countries, students hail from Mali, Cameroon, Mauritania, Rwanda, Burundi, Botswana and Ghana.

Figaji explained that UP had recently been assigned to develop the master’s degree into an infrastructure management degree, a process that would take two years to complete.

“We will then put the infrastructure manage- ment master’s degree through the [approval] process, which includes it being presented to the Council for Higher Education. It normally takes two to three years for universities to implement a new master’s degree.

“We aim to create a network of technically equipped professionals in Africa,” Figaji noted, adding that the second intake of students was expected at the end of this year.

The PACBP incorporates three legs, namely short courses, exposure to young professionals that are employed at municipalities and utilities, as well as a master’s degree in public administration.

AFD deputy CEO Jean Debrat highlighted that development banks, universities and govern- ments in Africa would have to collaborate to find a solution to ensure sustainable infrastructure development on the continent.

He indicated that the PACBP was encouraging universities that offered the master’s degree to form partnerships.

Debrat noted that the University of Dakar and UP were currently in discussions in this regard.

“We need to create a global dialogue between development banks. The next step would be cofinancing . . . the role that [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa group of emerging economies] will play will be larger,” he added.

Debrat’s comment came as the Brics leaders prepared to discuss plans at the Brics Summit, in Durban, to create a joint development bank, which would provide financing to emerging and developing economies for infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, Mahamba-Sithole said the IDC was partnering with the Chinese Development Bank’s China-Africa Development Fund and electronics manufacturer Hisense to cofund infrastructure development projects.

“This brings wealth and capacity to the PACBP,” he noted.