World Bank says Africa needs $22 billion yearly for infrastructure

Lagos, Nigeria - The World Bank vice president for Africa, Obiageli Ezekwesili, said on Thursday that Africa needs an investment of $22 billion annually for infrastructural development.

A report monitored here quotes Ezekwesili telling journalists at a breakfast meeting in Washington DC that the infrastructural development includes the construction of highways, water and air transportation facilities, as well as other social amenities.

The former Nigerian minister of education, said that the investment was urgently needed to address the dearth of infrastructure in Africa, which was also affecting sustainable economic growth and development on the continent.

"Therefore, African countries will need an infusion of that huge layout of financial resources to put up those infrastructures that will support their socio-economic upliftment," she said.

Ezekwesili challenged African governments and the private sector to build up a public-private-partnership (PPP) to invest in infrastructural development. Continue reading