A Review of African Infrastructure Initiatives非洲基础设施的项目回顾.docVIP

Bricks, Mortar, Policy and Development: Aid and Building African Infrastructure Greg Mills Executive Summary Donors – and Africans – now attached a greater priority to infrastructure spending. This is partly due to the realisation that the inflows of private capital for infrastructure development anticipated in the 1980s and 1990s have not been forthcoming. However, while there are many infrastructure projects in the (largely donor) pipeline, there are a number of past problems which need to be examined, including: the lack of commercial underpinning and distortion of the commercial focus; a confusion of donors; weak national and regional capacity; an indistinct model for private investors; and the variance in the governance performance of African states. Two sets of key challenges exist in spending aid on infrastructure: First, to tailor spending to specific countries based both on their record and demand. Today there is much focus on the relative amounts of foreign aid, rather than their quality and targeting. Second, to ensure donor co-ordination and, where possible, place infrastructure expenditure onto a commercial footing. Introduction Two sets of supply-side constraints exist to Africa’s development: One, policy-related constraints which have mitigated against the development of export industries; and, Two, structural constraints, which include the economic dependence on a limited range of exports, a low technological base, poor legal and regulatory institutions and capacity; limited access to credit; and inadequate infrastructure. Unsurprisingly, thus, a number of recent initiatives have focused attention on ‘what to do’ about the state of African infrastructure. For example, the African Commission established by British Prime Minister Tony Blair argues for additional aid expenditure on infrastructure of US$10 billion annually to 2010, increasing possibly to US$20 billion per annum for the next five years to 2015. The main investment sectors are