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Infrastructure
BUSINESS
Acting for infrastructure
Lamido Sanusi, governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, at Build Africa
T
he inaugural BUILD Africa Forum, taking place in Brazzaville, in the Republic of the Congo, was a remarkable success, gathering 849 participants representing 49 countries and 85 speakers from five continents (including 10 African ministers) over two days. Those attending included: H E Denis Sassou N’Guesso, President of the Republic of Congo; Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico; Abdoulaye Wade, former President of Senegal; Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; Dr Elham Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim, commissioner for infrastructure and energy for the African Union; Jean-Jacques Bouya, minister to the President of the Republic of Congo for spatial planning and delegate general for Major Public Works; Dominique Lafont, president of Bolloré Africa Logistics; Otavio Azevedo, President of Andrade Gutierrez; Mario Pezzini, director of the OECD Development Centre; and Robert Gumede, founder of Guma Group. Debates led to the following recommendations for immediate action from both public and private sector players: ● Local capacity building on public private partnerships (PPPs), long-term planning and phasing, strong political will, as well as transparent coordination between public and private players. ● Feasibility studies to cope with investors' aversion to risk, with government support to increase the level of bankability of some projects, whilst managing public debt. ● Regional integration, which is a necessity for African economies to compete in a globalised world, to complement each other in all sectors from transport, to trade and telecommunications. ● Economic development strategies to create sustainable value locally, both in terms of taxation revenues and job creation. ● Ensuring infrastructure serves development and stakeholders work to develop human capital in the long run through education, training and capacity building. ■ www.africanreview.com
African Review of Business and Technology - March 2014
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