Much has been written about Africa’s lack of transport infrastructure and the detrimental effect poor transport infrastructure has on economic development. The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) Study Synthesis1 shows that infrastructure plays a key role in economic growth and poverty reduction and that, conversely, the lack of infrastructure adversely affects productivity and raises production and transaction costs. This, in turn, hinders growth by reducing the competitiveness of businesses and the ability of governments to pursue economic and social development policies. According to the PIDA Study Synthesis, ‘Deficient infrastructure in today’s Africa has been found to sap growth by as much as 2 per cent a year (Calderón 2008)’.
