Browsing: infrastructure

Chinese lending to Africa has declined drastically after nearly two decades of bilateral lending which has led to the development of infrastructure in the region.

Chinese lending to the public sector in Africa was $28 billion in 2016 according to research from the China Africa Research Initiative. In 2018 it also declined to $9.9 billion and sunk further to billion in 2019. (Valium)

The decline is due to changes in the Chinese economy, Chinese investment losses and the uncertainty of the Chinese trade with the United States. The fact that Chinese lending has been receiving negative criticism as the cause of debt distress in some poor country’s in the world could also be a reason for the slowdown in funding.

With over 1,140 projects in Africa worth 153 billion, China has emerged as Africa’s largest bilateral lender over the last two decades. With $148 billion worth of loans, …

GreenCo Power Services, a subsidiary of Africa GreenCo has received a total of USD 1.5 million through two deals. The Danish government’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) has committed $1 million in funding. InfraCo Africa, the investment arm of the Private Infrastructure Development Group also put in $500 000 through a convertible loan. 

The deal will see GreenCo Power services come to life to strengthen power generation capacity. Renewable energy generation will provide an innovative approach to electricity production which is set to drive Zambia’s power infrastructure significantly. 

The Zambian government is on the path to scaling up energy which ties in with the country’s vision to be a prosperous middle-income country by 2030. As part of its vision, the country intends to shore up energy availability to drive productivity in the country. This deal will therefore see GreenCo acting as a complementary partner to the Zambian government’s vision. …

BRT Tanzania

With several 100 million dollars in investment^, the Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) is an infrastructure that deserves as much awe as any other in the world.

The investment involves some19.3km of roadways traversed by over 100 buses. It has27 bus stations built with such style and elegance they do indeed give the city a facelift so to speak.

More than the aesthetic function, the infrastructure has indeed transformed the port city of Dar Es Salaam from the usual narrow roads dotted with vendors to 6 lanes and pave ways for passengers, it looks good.

The BRT system that was designed by a Brazilian international consulting firm called Logit ferries 1000s of passengers every day and given that its buses run on specialized lanes, they face no traffic and so it takes less time to complete the same routes that regular commuter …

The AfDB hosted discussions on how it can strengthen support of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and channel greater investment towards economic and social infrastructure.

The bank’s digital workshop was under the theme “Designing the African Development Bank’s PPP Framework”. The economic slowdowns caused by the pandemic have sharpened the already urgent need for investment into the African continent.

In his opening remarks, Solomon Quaynor, the bank’s Vice President noted that infrastructure in Africa is already struggling to structure projects made for the private sector which balanced value for money for the public sector against affordability for the user, before COVID-19.

“It is therefore imperative that hybrid solutions such as PPPs must be seen and promoted as a way of building back better, stronger, greener, by clawing back private capital to infrastructure while creating much need fiscal room for governments to address multiple other demands, including building health systems resilience,” said Quaynor.…

In the past 5 years, Southern Africa had seen a great influx of Chinese capital in any areas of investment. Many Chinese companies invested large amounts of capital in various sectors including infrastructure, but the one that seems to be getting the most attention lately is the Oil and Gas sector.

Governments would sign multi year contracts granting exploration rights and concessions to oil and natural gas reserves to Chinese companies and negotiate royalties and equity in exchange.

The system worked as a co-ownership that was observed in various countries for the great part of the last decade. Since late 2018, or early 2019, China and the United States have engaged in an economic battle that has seen threats and embargoes being set by both sides. The tensions have not eased with the current pandemic as some world leaders chose to blame China’s lack of transparency to the current pandemic …

Since its creation, the Luanda-Bengo Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ) has been a factor encouraging investment, not only in the region but also in the Angolan economy.

Its economic evolution has been felt over the last few years, in the flourishing of several innovative projects within this project, much due to the commitment and promotion that the Government has made. One of the paradigmatic examples of this commitment is the privatization plan that has been carried out over the last few months, in order to allow for greater competitiveness in the EEZ and an increase in the investment of national and foreign investors in businesses in order to create wealth and increase national productivity.

In addition to diversifying the economy, the EEZ aims to develop business clusters, create jobs and increase exports.

Also Read:  Securing the future of Mozambique finances

For that purpose, the Government has defined a set …