Infrastructure Summit

The 2013 Infrastructure Summit in Cape Town brought together over 150 public and private sector participants to advance the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). The summit focused on four key areas: capacity building, energy access, public-private partnership (PPP) best practices, and project preparation and financing. A Business Working Group identified 16 high-potential projects for private sector-led acceleration, with the goal of selecting two pilot projects by mid-August 2013. The initiative, led by the World Economic Forum and coordinated with the African Development Bank, the African Union Commission, and the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, aims to bridge the infrastructure gap to prevent a potential 2% annual loss in GDP growth for Africa.

• The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) Priority Action Plan (PAP) consists of 51 projects and programmes across the energy, transportation, water, and ICT sectors intended for implementation by 2020.
• A Business Working Group identified 16 projects with high potential for private sector-led acceleration within the PIDA PAP; the Beira-Nacala Corridor was added to this list, while the Inga 3 project was excluded due to its size and complexity.
• Expanding energy access in Africa is critical, as rural electricity access is only 8% and urban access is 53%. A goal has been set to connect 500 million people to modern energy services by 2025 through a private sector-driven alliance.
• Project preparation is a significant bottleneck, with costs ranging from 3% to 10% of total project costs, often suffering from underfunding and a reliance on donor funding.
• Effective Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Africa require rigorous project prioritization, standardized preparation processes, balanced risk allocation, and the establishment of independent dispute resolution mechanisms.
• Capacity building priorities include the development of skilled labor and practical apprenticeships, citing the Square Kilometre Array telescope project in the Karoo as a model for transnational skills development involving over 70 institutes in 20 countries.

APA

World Economic Forum (2013). Infrastructure Summit. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/AF13/WEF_AF13_IU_AfricanStrategicInfrastructureInitiative_Report.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Infrastructure Summit. 2013. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/AF13/WEF_AF13_IU_AfricanStrategicInfrastructureInitiative_Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Infrastructure Summit |date=2013 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/AF13/WEF_AF13_IU_AfricanStrategicInfrastructureInitiative_Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2013infrastructure, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Infrastructure Summit}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2013}, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/AF13/WEF_AF13_IU_AfricanStrategicInfrastructureInitiative_Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }