Background Paper
Introduction
The Executive Dialogue on the
Implementation of Investment in Infrastructure (i3
Executive Dialogue) has been designed to engender a
broad scale buy-in from all of the diverse stakeholders
who, combined, have the capacity to design, facilitate
and execute the broad infrastructure development
programme that has been outlined and promoted by
proponents of NEPAD. i3ED is a series of
regional conferences intended to facilitate dialogue
between important public and private sector actors who
are actively involved in the development of African
infrastructure projects. The first of this series will
take place in Johannesburg, for the Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC), on 21 and 22 November
2002.
Over the course of the next 18 months,
i3 will convene four other regionally focused
meetings in Dakar for the West African Economic and
Monetary Union; Abuja for the Economic Community of West
African States; Nairobi for the Common Market for
Eastern and Southern Africa and Cairo for the Maghreb
Union.
i3 is a corporate Africa
engagement in order to assist the NEPAD Secretariat to
develop the capacity to view the continent through the
'entrepreneurial eyes' of CEOs of companies active
across Africa, and, furthermore, to help NEPAD to
develop the requisite familiarity required to call upon
business as a resource or 'brains trust'. It is
imperative that both sides of the public-private
partnership dialogue at the point of programme or
strategy design, if a holistic development plan
is to be implemented. i3 is a boardroom
dialogue between public and private stakeholders in
Africa's infrastructure development in place of the
traditional focus on the input and feedback of such CEOS
on solely at point of tender and post-project design and
implementation.
i to the power of 3
Investment is crucial to the economic
and social development of African states. It can only
happen in a meaningful way, however, if the agendas of
the private and public sectors are merged into a
continental plan - a plan in which business and NEPAD
meet halfway, with equal conceptual and financial
commitments. Investment also needs to be beneficial to
both the public and private sectors - while development
goals need to be reached, the profit imperative and
sound business principles cannot be sacrificed in the
process.
Lack of infrastructure is a primary
obstacle to investment in Africa. Without broad scale
buy-in from business and the private sector, few
governments, or aid agencies, will be able to make
significant headway in tackling the problems of poor and
failing infrastructure. Equally, if business wants to
embark on proprietary, lucrative and self-designed
infrastructure-related business/company development
plans, it is essential that they engage with the
relevant government regulatory and ministerial offices
within a partnership framework and solicit input,
technical assistance, and capital from relevant
multilateral and aid agencies.
Implementation means that strategic
stakeholders in infrastructure business will have the
opportunity to identify, together with NEPAD and the
respective regional trade body, 10-15 viable and
profitable core infrastructure projects that will
catalyse trade and development in the region.
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Achieving goals through an open
agenda
The goals of i3 are:
- Develop a holistic strategy for
infrastructure investment implementation by SADC and
other regional economic community based companies.
- Design a process through which
business can be more integrally involved in the
NEPAD investment process.
- Complement and support the NEPAD
Secretariat and NEPAD Business Group (NBG) strategy
to get business more constructively involved in
NEPAD.
- Integrate the requirements and
processes of financial institutions with the
practicalities of business commitment to investment
in Africa.
- Fine-tune already packaged
investment initiatives and identify potential future
projects within a NEPAD framework.
- Identify other restrictions and
limitations to business involvement in African
Development.
- Generate sector specific
committees or representatives in business to the
SADC Secretariat.
- Move closer to a continent wide
strategy for investment implementation.
ił Executive Dialogue for Southern
Africa
The iłED for Southern Africa has been
convened by SADC, NEPAD, MIGA and the DBSA. Experts from
these institutions will act as facilitators and
moderators in the intensive two-day programme.
As the regional convenor of this
Southern African i3ED, the SADC Secretariat
will be using this opportunity to present its priority
project list and network support for business in the
region. Aside from providing coverage of the event to
all SADC countries and infrastructure businesses in the
region, the secretariat will be looking to set up an
ongoing dialogue with local business on ways of
promoting trade and infrastructure development. The core
of SADC's involvement however, will be the presentation
of a short list of key infrastructure projects that are
viable and implementable in the short term. The ultimate
goal being the adoption, by the private sector, of some
of these programmes which will be catalytic to the
development of trade and industry in the region.
In a similar vein, the NEPAD
Secretariat will be using the i3ED series of
events to help design its long-term Pan-African
development strategy. The i3 series will
present the opportunity for NEPAD and business to
formulate a 'brains trust' that will design the strategy
and oversee the implementation of infrastructure
projects under NEPAD.
As the Regional Development bank, the
Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) besides for
providing a venue for the SADC i3ED, will be
presenting its processes of supporting and generating
infrastructure development. As on of the most
experienced institutions in the field, the DBSA will
share its experiences of past infrastructure projects
and add to the pool of knowledge being used to create a
broader infrastructure investment strategy.
MIGA (Multilateral Investment
Guarantee Agency), is the insurance arm of the World
Bank. It underwrites investment in developing countries
against political-economic risk such as war,
appropriation, floods or drought, and non-payment. MIGA
insures projects of up to $200 million and up to $750
million per African State. MIGA has a phenomenal amount
of team experience and capacity. Dr Ken Kwaku, the
Director of MIGA-Africa will act as chair for the entire
event. MIGA will provide high quality mediators for the
workshops on day 2 from its legal and project management
teams.
The iłED series of conferences has
been organised by Mina Trade & Investment and Africa
Business Direct. Both are Africa trade facilitation
companies, and ABD is Africa's primary b2b web portal.
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See you there
Delegates from key infrastructure
companies around the SADC region have been invited to
participate in this high level dialogue. The event is
being initiated under the auspices of the NEPAD
Secretariat. The implementation of investment
programmes, however, has already been delegated to the
various economic regions. It is for this reason that the
meetings will also fall under the auspices of the
respective regional economic communities.
Both the OPIC and EXIM bank of the USA
will participate. Professor Rubens Rucupero of UNCTAD
has confirmed his attendance, and indicated that both
UNCTAD and the ICC should participate in i3.
Members of the South African Department of Trade and
Industry have likewise confirmed their participation.
The IFC, NBG, African Development Bank and all of the
large local banks will participate in the first day of
presentations.
From the private sector, confirmed
attendees from the largest infrastructure businesses in
the SADC region will be attending. These include
Pan-African companies such as Bateman, Plessey, SAA,
Murray & Roberts, Standard Bank and Rand Merchant Bank,
UUnet and Sentech. It is crucial to note that to a large
degree, SADC business represents multinational companies
whose South African offices are responsible for their
African operations. Microsoft and AT&T are such
companies already committed to i3.
Mina Trade & Investment and African
Business Direct, the organizers of i3, look
forward to your valuable contribution to the success of
the event through your presence.
