# EU Unveils Ambitious African Infrastructure Project



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*EU unveils ambitious African infrastructure project *

BRUSSELS, July 13, 2006 (AFP) - The European Commission unveiled Thursday an ambitious multi-billion-euro infrastructure package to improve transportation, energy supplies and access to clean water throughout Africa. 

With a budget of 5.6 billion euros (7.1 billion dollars) from 2008-2013, the package will help complete transport corridors to widen access to goods and ease the movement of people, as well as improve road and rail safety. 

It will meet priorities set by Africans themselves -- via the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) -- like developing access to sustainable and affordable energy sources. 

Part will also go to provide clean water for some of the estimated 300 million Africans who are going without, while further funds will buy computers and improve communications in the health, education and government sectors. 

Unveiling the package, Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said it "will allow Africa to build the infrastructure that is so crucial for a real economic boost." 

"Connecting Africa is essential for its economic growth, trade, regional integration and fight against poverty," he said, adding that it would also ease aid efforts in the future. 

"If we don't have an infrastructure backbone, we won't be able to deal with all the other problems confronting Africa," he told reporters. 

Among the individual projects are the Filou hydroelectric scheme which would generate electricity for Senegal, Mali and Mauritania, and completing a highway running from Lagos in western Africa to Mombasa on the east coast. 

The commission hopes that by focusing on infrastructure projects useful to numerous African states it will be able to improve trade and regional integration, thereby boosting security.


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

I recommend connecting Africa with RAILWAYS first.


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

Good to see my tax-dollars at work - but this time make sure it's given to people who has plans - and not just places where it disapear over and over again without any explanations


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## SE9 (Apr 26, 2005)

Whoa... a Lagos to Mombasa highway... thats major!


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## koolkid (Apr 17, 2006)

Mr_Denmark said:


> Good to see my tax-dollars at work - but this time make sure it's givento people who has plans - andnot just places where i disapear over and over again without any explanations


Good Job buddy! 
Im proud of you... kay:

-koolkid


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## SuperDog (Feb 2, 2005)

Would be nice to see the USA do the same for poorer regions of Latin America to help stem illegal immigration.


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## koolkid (Apr 17, 2006)

SuperDog said:


> Would be nice to see the USA do the same for poorer regions of Latin America to help stem illegal immigration.


Haaa!!! Thats a good one...
:lol:


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## elgoyo (Jun 29, 2006)

If the USA would take its border patrol budget and the money needed build a barrier in the USA-MEX border, and use it for infrastructure and social programs in southern Mexico and Central America, it would money well spent.

I can assure you that that would stop more people from crossing the border than just simply hunting them down and puting up a fence.


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

...and of course, because of the anarchy, Somalia will have no part in this...

That highway from Mombasa to Lagos will take YEARS to build...though.


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## Gatis (Sep 22, 2003)

Highway here most likely means just a normal two lane road, not sixlane road with separated directions.


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## matthewcs (Dec 1, 2005)

It's good to see people fixing the cause of problems, rather than throwing a Bandaid on the problem itself (Illegal immigration).


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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

If the US were to do something similar in Latin America, I'm sure some people would say it's their way neocolonialism or something like that.


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## desirous (Jun 10, 2006)

SuperDog said:


> Would be nice to see the USA do the same for poorer regions of Latin America to help stem illegal immigration.


Building transport infrastructure would make them get here faster. 

Just kidding. Helping Latin American countries would be a laudable goal.


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## Jean Luc (Mar 23, 2006)

I just hope that the money doesn't dissappear into Swiss bank accounts...


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Africa needs infrastructure boost - Cameroon's PM *

YAOUNDE, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Africa must overcome its lack of infrastructure, expand farming and brighten its investment climate in order to tackle poverty and realise its growth potential, Cameroon's prime minister said on Thursday. 

The countries of the world's poorest continent must work together to win the massive financing needed for infrastructure investments, Ephraim Inoni said at a meeting of African economy and finance ministers. 

Many African countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, had mineral riches and hydroelectric potential that were underexploited because of the lack of basic infrastructure. 

African leaders say projects to criss-cross the continent with railways and roads would galvanise economic activity. 

"Any effort to release the continent's growth potential and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) should first address the acute shortage of infrastructure," Inoni said. 

The so-called Millennium Development Goals aim to halve Africa's poverty by 2015 and combat diseases like malaria. 

The development of agriculture, on which most African's depended, was key to alleviating poverty, Inoni said. 

He also stressed the need to improve Africa's business and regulatory climate to draw more foreign investment, adding Africa must seize the opportunity to unleash its huge economic potential, echoing recent calls made by senior IMF officials. 

"We must press on with our reforms," he said in a public speech before the meeting went into a closed-door session. 

In a visit to Africa earlier this month, the IMF's new deputy head, John Lipsky, urged its governments to build on good growth this year and capitalise on the chance provided by a benign global economy, debt relief and progress with reforms. 

The African Union's Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Maxwell Mkwezalamba, told the meeting in Yaounde on Thursday that Africa's economy grew by 5.1 percent in 2005 and was expected to expand by 5.8 percent in 2006. 

Inflation had declined from 9.1 percent in 2004 to 7.9 percent in 2005 in spite of increases in oil prices, he added. 

"The improved economic performance is, however, lower than the 7 percent required to reduce poverty and to attain the Millennium Development Goals," Mkwezalamba added. 

Inoni urged African governments to react proactively to soaring oil prices by encouraging the use of renewable energies and bio-fuels. 

He hailed progress in recent years in developing intra-African trade, but said it still remained slow. 

Africa still suffered widespread hunger and the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world, he said, citing political conflict, underemployment, corruption, limited direct foreign investment and huge external debt as major brakes to growth.


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## sbarn (Mar 19, 2004)

I think the some parts of the U.S. may need infrastructure impovements as badly as the some Latin American countries... 

In any case, this is a noble contribution to Africa by the EU.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

The problem are those many civil wars, which won't allow the economy to grow. In almost every country in Africa, for the last 15 years, there were at least one civil war or conflict, so those countries barely have any road or railnetwork, and airtraffic is among the unsafest of the world. Most major roads in many African countries aren't even paved.


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## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

sbarn said:


> I think the some parts of the U.S. may need infrastructure impovements as badly as the some Latin American countries...


Please elaborate?


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## Machiavel (Jul 26, 2005)

Chris1491 said:


> The problem are those many civil wars, which won't allow the economy to grow. In almost every country in Africa, for the last 15 years, there were at least one civil war or conflict, so those countries barely have any road or railnetwork, and airtraffic is among the unsafest of the world. Most major roads in many African countries aren't even paved.



According to some U.N and World Bank statistics, there's a correlation between conflict and poverty. Statistically, 20 % of the most destitues areas on the globe have endured 80% of all wars. So maybe if those African country become wealthy nations, the endemic war and violence throughout the continent will diminish. Modern public infrastructure is the key to economic succes, so if those African countries started to build state of the art infrastructure, we will se a dramatic change


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

_I don't want to start a related thread on Africa, so here is more information about infrastructure developments on the continent :_

*World Bank to fund West African road, rail links *

WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) - The World Bank said on Wednesday it will provide $201 million in credits and grants to improve road and rail links between West African neighbors Chad, Cameroon and Central African Republic. 

"Those three countries have some of the least functional traffic connections of any area in the world," World Bank spokesman Tim Carrington told Reuters. 

Cameroon's location on the Atlantic Ocean is vital for getting goods from landlocked Chad and Central African Republic to international markets, but poor infrastructure has frustrated efforts to increase trade and lower transport costs. 

The World Bank project will target sections of road and stretches of rail between Chad's capital N'Djamena and Bangui in Central African Republic to the port of Douala in Cameroon. 

In addition, it will finance improvements to accelerate border crossings and reduce other barriers along the Douala-N'Djamena and Douala-Bangui corridors. It will also provide technical assistance to speed up port clearance at Douala. 

The World Bank estimated that for Chad and CAR, transit costs represent 52 percent and 33 percent, respectively, of the value of exports. 

Road travel from Douala -- the main port and regional gateway -- currently takes about 15 days to N'Djamena and 10 days to Bangui. Delays in the port can add another 28 days, it said. 

Carrington said 30 percent of the contributions for the project will come from the International Development Association, the World Bank's fund that lends to the world's poorest countries. 

The package includes $147 million credit for Cameroon, $30 million grant for Chad, and $24 million grant to Central African Republic. 

Other donors include the African Development Fund, European Union, and French development agency. Chad has also agreed to use some of its oil profits to fund part of the project. 

"Challenges of implementing a major project like this are not small," Carrington said, "but I think everybody's going in with their eyes open," he added. 

He said all three countries have long struggled to get their goods to market, and transportation improvements could have far-reaching effects in bolstering their economies. 

"A significant part of that burden would be lightened if those connections became more functional and physically improved," said Carrington.


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## FM 2258 (Jan 24, 2004)

SuperDog said:


> Would be nice to see the USA do the same for poorer regions of Latin America to help stem illegal immigration.


The U.S. has it's own highways to fix. They should start with Interstate 35 in Downtown Austin that has traffic jams even on Sunday afterfuckingnoon.   



As for Africa I don't think 7.1 billion is enough to fix things up. I've been to Nigeria and their roads suck. With all the oil they produce they should be able to improve roads without the help of the E.U.


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