Continental integration has long been a dream for Africa but progress has been slow. Integration and security are now key to Africa’s further infrastructure development.
Continental integration has long been a dream – the idea of a railway line stretching from Cape Town to Cairo was first raised in 1874.
Today, this vision is moving closer to realisation with the Trans African Highway comprising nine highways. Despite the expected surge in economic development encouraging investments in roads and railways across the continent, progress has been slow due to climatic conditions and conflicts.
Security a risk to be managed
A study of large infrastructure projects in East Africa, for instance, recently highlighted that security has become a major risk to be managed. The research noted that Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia all have individual historical legacies of insecurity, with at least one active separatist or insurgent movement currently operating – using violence to express grievances and gain political attention. This is also evident in recent attacks by Islamic State-linked militants in northern Mozambique which disrupted the multi-billion-dollar Total SE LNG project.
Insecurity can also arise from historical spatial planning legacies and inequalities as in the case of South Africa’s experience of ‘insurrection’ and looting in July 2021. The disruption included the torching of shopping malls and the closing of the critical N3 highway linking the port city of Durban with the regional powerhouse of Gauteng. Many consumers were stranded without supplies and businesses in some areas closed.
Read the full article in Why Africa
