Infrastructure development in Africa (East African Transport)

Author(s):  
Andrey K. Barinov

In the article, the authors analyze the current state and prospects for the development of the transport infrastructure in the countries of East Africa. They provide latest data on projects in pipeline. Today, Africa is a dynamically developing continent with powerful economic, demographic and resource potential that will have a tangible impact on world development in the 21st century. The large-scale transformations that are taking place on the continent require an outstripping pace of infrastructure development, which, despite the success achieved, still does not meet its needs. While total capital investment in infrastructure projects in African countries in 2018 reached record level, the lack of funding remains one of the key obstacles for the development of African infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic that swept the world in 2020 will further exacerbate the existing gap between investment needed and investment required. The economic potential of many infrastructure projects will decline. However, according to the authors, the negative impact will not be so large-scale due to the long-term nature of the contracts, as well as the socio-economic significance of the projects. The authors of the article come to the conclusion that in the context of an epidemiological crisis, both national and foreign investors who invest in the development of regional infrastructure seek to share their risks by attracting new financial partners. This situation opens up additional opportunities for Russian companies and enterprises to enter long-term and capital-intensive infrastructure projects in East Africa, which can become a solid basis for building Russian-African economic relations.

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Paraskevadakis ◽  
Alan Bury ◽  
Jin Wang ◽  
Jun Ren ◽  
Stephen Bonsall ◽  
...  

Abstract In the North West of England the issue of a perceived infrastructure gap is of increasing concern. Investment needs to be made to improve the transport infrastructure of the region if it is to be expected to promote the development of its own regional logistics gateway. Funding tools have been set up to address the challenges arising from the imbalance in infrastructure development that exists between regions in the north of the United Kingdom and those in the south. For regions with well developed economies the outlook is promising as the availability of modern transport infrastructure looks set to improve. However, some sources believe that the development of new transport infrastructure will have a negative impact upon sustainable development. It is expected that this will occur in a range of both direct and indirect ways. As a result, it is critical that planning for the creation of new intermodal transport infrastructure, or the upgrading of that which already exists, takes into account the impact that these developments will have on the sustainable development of the host region. A scenario based development methodology is proposed in this paper. It was developed to provide a way to identify potential scenarios that may arise within a given region as a result of transport infrastructure projects. To create significant scenarios the methodology is dependent on the availability of a sufficient quantity of quality data. For this paper that data was collected through a focus group composed of stakeholders from the region in question. This was further supported by the performance of an impact survey using the same group of stakeholders.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Jon Unruh ◽  
Matthew Pritchard ◽  
Emily Savage ◽  
Chris Wade ◽  
Priya Nair ◽  
...  

With the rapid increase in the number of mega-infrastructure projects underway across East Africa, how the social, economic, political and environmental repercussions of these projects intersect with ongoing conflict dynamics is a poorly understood topic. Although recent interest in large-scale land acquisitions has led to a number of detailed investigations into specific projects and trends, there has not yet been a broad, systematic review of how large-scale infrastructure developments in East Africa interact with previous, ongoing and potential conflict in their areas of operation. The objective of this article is to report on an analysis of 26 mega-infrastructure projects across Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda, with an explicit focus on the common tension points that contribute to security dynamics. The methodology used involved two composite indicators of risk—a conflict risk score and a project impact score. The study found seven common tensions across all projects: in-migration, population displacement and relocation, a negative history of community relations with previous or follow-on developments, land rights, securitisation, environmental degradation and expectations of the local population relative to benefits delivered by the project. The study recommends increased attention on prior assessments that focus on the broader and more interconnected impacts in addition to those confined to the immediate project location, as well as in-depth examination of possible mitigation measures. JEL Classification: O1, O2, Q2, Q3, Q4, R1, R4


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-145
Author(s):  
Natalya A. Zhuravleva ◽  
Tomas Kliestik

Background: The realisation of large-scale plans of Russian infrastructure development, transport in particular, requires a corresponding methodological guidance for both planning of realisation of these tasks and development of the proper financing instrumentarium. Aim: The analysis of reasons for incompliance of programme tasks with their financing conditions; formalisation of investment trends in todays economy and description of their capability to adapt to Russian projects. Methods: The method of rising from concrete to abstract and vice versa has allowed identification of important regularities of investment trends and their connection with the quality of projects; the systems principle has confirmed dependence of successful realisation of infrastructure projects on reliability of economic development forecasts and adequacy of projects financing and management. Results: The analysis of ongoing changes of state priorities and programmes, outlined in a large number of documents regulating development of transport infrastructure in Russia, has allowed identification of influence of most significant regularities, which determine effectiveness of these solutions. All available transport infrastructure project financing sources have been systemised, considering investment volume and their status in the market. The statement that it is exactly the loan-based financing sources, concession in the first instance, that can be the most efficient in infrastructure projects realisation, has been confirmed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-384
Author(s):  
Giorgi Shiolashvili

The article researches the development of foreign trade in goods of Georgia in the context of the country's participation in international integration processes from the mid-1990s to the present. The evolution and features of Georgias participation in such integration organizations and projects as the Commonwealth of Independent States, GUAM, the Eastern Partnership of European Union, as well as interaction with the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union are examined. Based on a detailed analysis of the dynamics, commodity and geographical structure of Georgias foreign trade in goods in the long term period, the article substantiates the conclusion that the participation of Georgia in the Free Trade Agreements, as well as trade liberalization carried out in integration blocks, have practically no effect to change the exportimport flows of the country, and do not lead to an increase in foreign trade with the member countries of the integrations. The most significant factors that determine Georgias foreign trade and its trends are the country's geographical location and the level of the transport infrastructure development, the implementation of large-scale transport and logistics projects in the region, external financing provided to the country by international and regional organizations, foreign countries, on a credit and grant basis.


Author(s):  
Andrey K. Barinov

In the article, the authors analyze the current state and prospects for the development of the energy infrastructure in the countries of East Africa. They provide data from various sources on the facilities under construction in the field of electricity generation. Today, Africa is a dynamically developing continent with powerful potential that will have a tangible impact on world development in the 21st century. The large-scale transformations that are taking place on the continent require an outstripping pace of infrastructure development, which, despite the success achieved, still does not meet its needs. Africa is the least electrified continent in the world, where half of the population does not have access to electricity. The authors come to the conclusion that a surplus of installed capacity already exists in certain states of East Africa, and in the medium term will reach regional proportions when all power plants under construction are put into operation. To effectively use the excess of electricity, as well as to unlock the potential of both regional and interregional trade, it is necessary to develop transmission and distribution networks. Their underdevelopment is a serious obstacle to expanding the population's access to electricity. Companies from both traditional and new partner countries are actively involved in electricity projects in East Africa. The participation of companies from Russia at the moment is very limited, despite the existing experience and technological base. The COVID-19 pandemic that swept the world in 2020 will undoubtedly have a negative impact on global financial flows and the implementation of electricity projects (the suspension of several projects has already been announced). However, according to the authors, the negative impact will not be so large-scale due to the long-term nature of the contracts, as well as the socio-economic significance of the projects.


2009 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 9-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Messerschmidt

‘Risk' is a major point of focus in the literature on resettlement and reconstruction associated with the impacts of major infrastructure development on project affected individuals and families. Previous approaches to risk appear to emphasize the negative consequences of development, and it is no wonder then that project affected people often emphatically resist development and change. This paper proposes that a more pro-active, positive opportunities and benefits approach be taken in dealing with resettlement and reconstruction associated with large scale infrastructure projects. The discussion is focused on the eight ‘risk factors' (or ‘opportunity factors'?) listed in the well known ‘Impoverishment Risk and Reconstruction' (IRR) Model. Three more such factors are added to the list based on field experience in South Asia. The point is that by emphasizing the potential opportunities and benefits, project affected people are more likely to be supportive of projects that may disrupt their lives. Key words: Resettlement, opportunities, risk, IRR model, South Asia, infrastructure development  doi: 10.3126/hn.v3i0.1912 Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment Issue No. 3, January, 2008 Page 9-15


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 565-574
Author(s):  
Chris N. Thomson

Long-term monitoring of the Masked Owl Tyto novaehollandiae in a semi-urban landscape before, during and after large-scale habitat removal identified a positive response in breeding activity in the short-term and a change in prey selectivity. Over the longer term, the loss in habitat had a negative impact on site fidelity. A pair of Masked Owls exhibited high fidelity to a particular breeding territory before and during the removal of large areas of habitat within this territory. Breeding success occurred over two consecutive seasons during the removal of known habitat and other disturbance events at which time the pair and their offspring were observed to exploit disturbed habitat and newly created forest edges in search of prey. Breeding activity was supported by an increased dietary focus on introduced rodents and other mammals displaced during habitat clearing. Fidelity to the breeding territory became more irregular post-disturbance and after two years the territory appeared to be abandoned. This response may suggest that the cumulative loss of habitat for established pairs as a result of urban expansion is likely to adversely affect reproductive success and site fidelity in the longer term.


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