An Enabling Environment :: Part 2, Internal Infrastructure Investment
The attitude and priority that a government gives to investing in infrastructure is one that is deemed necessary of consideration prior to any plans for infrastructure development, whether it be funded and developed by external or internal groups of any kind. The term used to describe this is the ‘absorbative capacity’ of a country, which is defined as the capability to use, maintain and develop an infrastructure. The requirements that are needed to allow a sufficient absorbative capacity are defined by retired managing director for global infrastructure investment at the UK CDC with the following quote:
‘There is lots of evidence that unless a country is spending 4-5% of its GDP on infrastructure development, they will not sustain any increase in GDP per capita.’
As an increase in GDP per capita is a key indication of a country’s increasing development, this appears to demonstrate that unless a country is spending the required amount to have an adequate absorbative capacity, there is little point in other external, or private groups developing an infrastructure, as it will not be able to aid development in the country in the long run, as the country will not be able to maintain or develop it further. This point seems particularly relevant to my post about the Connect Africa summit, and its outcomes, which are to develop an infrastructure within Africa. It also seems relevant in light of the East African Submarine Cable system agreed investment over the last few days (talked about in an AfricanLoft article titled ‘East African Submarine Cable System Receives a Boost).
In conclusion, to reiterate the importance of infrastructure investment, I want to show the diagram provided by Henry Kyambalesa in his book ‘Socio-Economic Challenges: The African Context’, of the symbiotic relationship created by infrastructure development:
