The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will seek to attract extensive investment in the roll-out of its Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan Vision (RIDMP) 2027, through a high-level Infrastructure Investment Conference, in Mozambique, later this month.

The RIDMP is a 15-year blueprint to guide the implementation of cross-border infrastructure projects between 2013 and 2027, and was adopted by SADC heads of State and government at the thirty-second SADC ordinary summit held in August 2012.

Priority infrastructure projects worth some $500-billion had been identified, and the SADC said it hoped the June 27 to 28 investor conference would, along with other funding road shows in Asia and Europe, mobilise resources for their implementation.

Held under the theme ‘Accelerating infrastructure investment through sustainable and innovative financing’, the conference is expected to be attended by the SADC troika heads of States from Angola, Malawi and Mozambique, as well as South African President Jacob Zuma in his capacity as champion for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Presidential Infrastructure Championship Initiative.

Also expected are the presidents of the African Development Bank and World Bank, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, leading private sector representatives, as well as Ministers responsible for infrastructure-related sectors in the SADC member States.

Following the adoption of the RIDMP, frameworks were formulated to guide the implementation of efficient, seamless and cost-effective trans-border infrastructure networks in an integrated and coordinated manner.

This was done by the SADC secretariat in collaboration with the SADC Ministries responsible for the six sectors, namely, energy, transport, tourism, information-communication technologies (ICT) and postal, meteorology, and water.

SECTOR FOCUS

In the energy sector, the plan was expected to address four key areas of energy security; improving access to modern energy services, tapping the abundant energy resources in the continent and upscaling financial investment, while enhancing environmental sustainability.

In the water sector, the RIDMP prioritised the strengthening of water-related institutions, the preparation of bankable strategic water infrastructure development projects, increasing water storage to prepare for climate change, increasing access to safe drinking water, enhancing sanitation services for SADC citizens, and facilitating and coordinating the SADC Regional Water Programme.

The transport sector plan focused on effective regulation of transport services, the liberalisation of transport markets, the development of corridors and facilitation of cross-border movement, the construction of missing regional transport links, corridor management, the establishment of institutions for the Beira, Lobito and North-South corridors, and the harmonisation of road safety data systems.

The ICT sector plan, meanwhile, would focus on addressing harmonisation of SADC regional ICT policy and regulatory frameworks, SADC regional ICT infrastructure development, international and regional coordination, coordination and harmonisation of SADC ICT and postal strategic plans and programmes, facilitation of policy dialogue, and the implementation of the transport, communication and meteorology protocol.

In the tourism sector, the RIDMP was geared towards achieving enhanced socioeconomic development, facilitating joint marketing of SADC as a single destination, increasing tourism arrivals and tourism receipts from source markets, and developing the tourism sector in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Further, in terms of the meteorology sector, the plan focused on ensuring the availability of timely early warning information relating to adverse weather and climate variability impacts.