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Zconstruct Africa by Africans, such is the advocacy of the executive vice-president of the African Export Bank Afreximbank, Kanayo Awani, when the fourth workshop on engineering, supplies and construction (EPC) are opened as well as on the promotion of contracts. This workshop was organized yesterday by Afreximbank, as part of the work of the 4e Edition of the intra-African trade fair (IATF 2024).
Under the theme “strengthening African entrepreneurs: accelerating the development of infrastructure in Africa”, this high -level workshop was an opportunity to raise awareness among African entrepreneurs with contractual opportunities and to present the main initiatives and interventions of Afreximbank in support of African EPC companies.
Intervening at the opening of the works of this workshop, which brought together representatives of central banks, African EPC companies, government officials, financial institutions and other key stakeholders involved in the development of infrastructure and the realization of projects at the continent, the executive vice-president of Afreximbank, said that the future of Africa must be built by African “. According to her, African companies do not participate enough in the realization of the various infrastructure projects carried out on the African continent, despite the expertise and the know-how acquired in this area. “African companies have the skills to carry out these infrastructure,” she said, calling for the creation of a network of African EPC companies. Because it was the foreign companies that played, she said, “a preponderant role” in carrying out these projects in which $ 90 billion was spent.
Affirming that the low rate of intra-African trade, which does not exceed 15 % is mainly due to the lack of infrastructure, that it is imperative to fill, it stressed the need to invest more. “We need immense investments,” said Kanayo Awani, highlighting the need for African countries to collaborate and work more in partnership.
Affirming that IATF is now a benchmark, the manager has highlighted the role that the African import-export bank plays, in the financing of structuring projects, saying that it has supported projects over the past five years up to 12 billion dollars.
Infrastructure development in Africa: the central role of Algeria
The importance of having a solid and modern basic infrastructure has also been highlighted by the Minister of Foreign Trade and the Promotion of Exports, Kamel Rezig, who intervened when opening this workshop.
“Infrastructure is the basis of all economic development,” he said, saying that the building and construction sector in Africa is a strategic engine of economic and social development. “We can’t talk about promising investments, dynamic commerce or continental integration without guaranteeing modern basic infrastructure,” said Rezig. In this sense, he has highlighted the role of Algeria, which “has always worked for the support of the continent’s development and the realization of the economic integration of Africa”. This results in the realization of several continental scope projects, aimed at developing the basic infrastructure.
In addition to the realization of several projects, Algeria’s capacities in the field of construction are also characterized by the promotion of training in this area, according to the Minister of Foreign Trade, evoking the training of a generation of engineers in various specialties, which contributes to the development of Algeria and Africa.
The Minister, who did not fail to highlight the progress made by Algeria, which has gone from country importing country materials to exporting countries, notably to the African market, stressed the importance of this workshop initiated by Afreximbank, aimed at the support of partnerships between African countries.