Heads of State from seven African countries on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC) will, every six months, be called to account for the progress, or lack thereof, of a regional infrastructure development project to which they are assigned responsibility.

This Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative (Pici) is aimed at accelerating continental infrastructure projects identified by the Programme for the Infrastructural Development of Africa (Pida), by entwining the reputation of the State head with that of the success, or failure, of their allocated project, Pici coordinator Dr John Tambi said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Nepad Infrastructure Africa conference, he asserted that the initiative had become a “blueprint” for tackling regional infrastructure projects, which ensured greater continuity and resource mobilisation.

“When a president is involved in a project and has a vested interest, it is easier to attract private sector financing. It also means that the Pida has an implementation plan that identifies who does what and who is accountable for what. Previously, regional projects didn’t have accountability,” he commented.

Tambi added that the success of a regional development project was contingent on its inclusion in the country’s national development agenda and its acknowledgement as a national priority project.

“I believe the strength of the Pida’s potential will be realised through the Pici, given the fact that the president has to report on the progress of the project to the HSGOC chairperson every six months. The HSGOC, in turn, reports to the African Union assembly. This has a naming and shaming implication,” he said.

African Development Bank (AfDB) chief infrastructure and public–private partnership (PPP) specialist Mtchera Chirwa added that the Pici provided greater impetus for governments and their implementing agencies to access financing and establish PPP agreements for project advancement.

COLLABORATIVE MUSCLE

The $360-billion Pida – under which the Pici’s eight presidentially-administered projects fell – was initiated by the AU Commission, the Nepad Agency and the AfDB with a view to creating regional economic integration by bridging the continent’s extensive infrastructure gap.

Endorsed by African heads of State and government at the AU Summit in Addis Ababa, in January, last year, it had identified 51 development projects for development by 2040, which would enable improved interconnection and integration between regions and countries.

South African President Jacob Zuma was championing the North–South Corridor road and rail projects, which would stretch from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, across the Republic of Congo, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to South Africa.

The twenty-ninth meeting of the Nepad HSGOC was held on May 25.