19 October 2006 - Addis Ababa: Afro Consulting Group which is assessing various short-term action plans and master plans for infrastructure development in Africa said today in Addis Ababa that there had not been any concrete NEPAD projects in their study countries over the last two and a half years.
During a courtesy call to ECA’s NEPAD and Regional Integration Division (NRID), the Groups’s General Manager, Yusuf Ahmed, said: “There were no target dates, no identifiable investment sources, but only a list of activities and wish list of what the countries or regional economic communities would like to do at some point.”
Under the supervision of the African Development Bank, the Group is affiliated to a Consortium in Tunisia, which is undertaking similar studies in North Africa. Other consulting firms are conducting studies in Southern West and East Africa.
He said that there were also capacity problems and duplication of studies by many RECs, which ought to be rationalized and prioritized.
“We believe that if ECA unites effectively with NEPAD, Africa’s infrastructure agenda will be implemented,” he said, adding “Without ECA, these studies will not work”.
Over the next eight months, said Ahmed, the Group would review all of the duplicated studies, harmonize them and develop a strategy for Africa for the next 25 years.
To make progress in the development of infrastructure, Mr. Ahmed said African countries ought to honor and implement existing agreements which, for instance, could improve transport systems.
Such implementation by countries could then be made a precondition for loans by institutions such as the African Development Bank and the World Bank, he said.
Responding, NRID’s Director, Robert Okello, said that the United Nations had a five-year review mechanism for the MDGs, to assess how far the Organization’s work is helping regions like Africa.
Additionally, he said, ECA’s recent repositioning exercise has NEPAD and regional integration as a core pillars. The Group was later briefed on ECA’s work on transport, energy and water as well as on ECA’s support to NEPAD.