COMESA GETS $110 MILLION FROM EUROPEAN UNION

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) will receive $110 million from the EU for infrastructure projects towards faster integration of the bloc.

The money is part of $1.8 billion fund that the EU has earmarked under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF), running from 2014 to 2020, to support infrastructure projects in East and Southern Africa and in the Indian Ocean island states, Gilles Hervio, the head of the EU delegation to Zambia and Comesa, said recently.

The World Bank estimates that Africa requires at least $93 billion every year to cover funding gaps for infrastructure.

Ideally, Comesa, stretching from Egypt to Swaziland — with much of this area lacking good roads, railways, electricity, ICT infrastructure, airports, sea ports and piped water — needs this money the most.

Comesa has a $53 billion funding gap for infrastructure — $28.4 billion for railways, airports, ports, roads and border posts, $31.4 billion for electricity and $630 million for ICT.

Comesa Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya said the bloc should save money, exercise frugality and avoid duplication where some projects are already being undertaken by other regional initiatives in order to get maximum value for every dollar invested in infrastructure.

This is informed by the tripartite arrangement under which Comesa, EAC and SADC are working towards a bigger free trade area covering 26 states.

“Whereas at the Comesa-EAC-SADC tripartite level there was agreement on who would do what, there are risks of duplication and lack of coherence in programme implementation at national level. Member states should take ownership of the proposed projects as the focus of the 11th EDF funds will be on implementation of regional commitments at the national level,” Mr Ngwenya said. 

The initial $110 million from the EU will fund implementation of one-stop border posts along all major transport corridors to facilitate the free flow of goods and people across borders.

The planned border posts such as Malaba on the Kenya-Uganda border along the Northern Corridor are modelled on the Chirundu post on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border; it is said to be saving up to $600,000 a day in time value. Delays used to stretch beyond seven days prior to 2009, but have since reduced to less than 24 hours, according to TradeMark Southern Africa.