African Union Assembly adopts second phase of PIDA

PAP II, the second phase of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) will include 69 regional infrastructure projects in the Energy, Transport, Trans-Boundary Water and Information and Communication Technology sectors (read our post), for an estimated budget of 161 billion USD and an annual coverage need of US$ 16 bn over the next 10 years, that will include the costs associated with project preparation and implementation, as well as with project operation and maintenance.

The total financial requirement for projects in the transport and infrastructure sector is estimated in about 108 billion USD, equal to 67% of the total PIDA financial envelope. The main financing sources will be the national governments through their national budgets (that will cover mainly transport infrastructure), financing from multilateral development banks, bilateral development finance institutions, bilateral official development aid (such as grants, concessional loans, and technical assistance for project development); and the private sector.

These projects, selected from a list of over 240 projects proposed by Member States, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and Specialized African Institutions, were approved by the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government in its 34th Ordinary Session held on 7 February 2021, that also decided to prioritise those ones that are functional to the implementation of the African Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and aimed at favouring the free movement of goods and people on a large scale in the continent.