A two-day international summit was opened in Lusaka on Monday to discuss the development of a key economic north-south corridor in Africa.
Leaders of four African countries attended the opening session of the unprecedented conference, which also attracts representatives of the World Bank (WB), European Commission (EC), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank, the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The four leaders include Zambian President Rupiah Banda, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki who represents the East African Community (EAC), and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni who represents the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and South African President Kgalema Motlanthe who represents the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
At the meeting, the African leaders committed their countries and regions to deepening regional integration and intensifying political support for the wide-ranging program.
The three regional economic communities (RECs) have pledged to work together towards the creation of a free trade zone across their 26 members. The corridor is the first major project under the newly formed Tripartite Task Force.
Up to 1.2 billion dollars were pledged at the first day session of the North-South Corridor High Level Conference by the WB, the EC, the AfDB, Britain and a dozen other donors to finance the North-South Corridor infrastructure and trade facilitation program.
More than 1,000 participants included 300 RECs delegates and over 700 officials, businessmen and diplomats. They are set to discuss with the leaders how to improve competitiveness in Africa by upgrading transport infrastructure, trade environment and power supply.
The meeting will also be devoted to a North-South Corridor Pilot Aid for Trade Programme, a joint COMESA-EAC-SADC initiative that aims to reduce the time and cost of land transport.
High costs and above average transit delays have become bottlenecks for the region to raise its GDP growth rates.
Zambian President Banda said limited infrastructure development on the continent is preventing countries from attracting the much needed foreign direct investment (FDI), stressing the need for concerted effort to meet the challenge.
Although the north-south project would go a long way to harmonize customs procedures and upgrade infrastructure, the improvement of infrastructure will increase trade and deepen integration, he said.
Kenyan President Kibaki said African countries need to move fast in increasing investment in infrastructure, adding that it would be difficult to integrate African economies with poor infrastructure.
South African President Motlanthe said Africa needs a robust master plan to improve its infrastructure. His Ugandan counterpart President Museveni said Africa needs financing for its infrastructure, urging African leaders to look for internal resources in view of the global economic recession.
African Union Vice Chairperson Erastus Mwencha said at the official opening of the conference that infrastructure is key to Africa's competitiveness in the global economy, but bemoaned the current infrastructure challenges.
He said transport constitutes between 20 per cent to 40 per cent of production costs for landlocked countries on the continent, compared with 10 per cent spent by developed nations, adding that it takes an average of six days for goods to be cleared at a customs check point at many African borders.
The AU official further said it takes about three days for a ship to be offloaded at an African harbour, adding that all these factors are impacting negatively to Africa's development.
"With such costs, there is no way Africa can become competitive or integrated into the global economy," he said, adding that Africa needs one master plan for infrastructure development which would be implemented by regional bodies.
WTO Head Pascal Lamy said that the North-South Corridor was an example of a highly innovative regional aid for trade approach that could transform competitiveness and enhance regional trade flows.
"The project will promote development and poverty alleviation in the Southern African region and promote deeper regional integration. Such initiatives have never been more urgent than in the current global economic climate," Lamy said.
EAC Secretary General Juma Mwapachu, who is the current chairperson of the RECs' Tripartite Task Force, said that deepening regional integration and partnering with the private sector are key to address the challenges of resource mobilization and improving competitiveness.
The North-South Corridor comprises two priority NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development) Corridors: Dar es Salaam Corridor linking the port of Dar es Salaam with the Copperbelt and North-South Corridor linking the Copperbelt to the southern ports in South Africa.
The corridor, together with its adjacent spurs, services eight countries, including Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.
The North-South Corridor was selected because it is the busiest channel in the region in terms of values and volumes of freight. It is expected to get even busier in the years to come. However, if imports and exports that use the North-South Corridor continue to grow at the current rate, the infrastructure on the corridor will collapse unless remedial actions are taken.