By Jackson Okoth

Infrastructure spending contributed about 50 per cent of Africa’s improved growth during last decade. Yet, Africa’s infrastructure lags behind other developing nations, consistently ranking at the bottom on many indicators.

This disclosure was made yesterday during the Africa Congress of Accountants, at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, whose theme is ‘Accountancy and Infrastructure in Africa’.

"Eliminating the large infrastructure deficit could boost GDP growth by up to two to three per cent," said Josephine Ngure, an officer with the African Development Bank.

A large bulk of infrastructure funding in Africa comes from Central Governments and public institutions, which account for about 50 per cent of current spending.

"We have seen a gradual participation of private investors, particularly in ICT and energy," said Ngure.

China has been the biggest participant in Kenya and other African states. Last year, it committed an estimated $9 billion to infrastructure projects in Africa, ahead of Arab funds, India and Brazil.

"In gross terms, Sub-Saharan Africa needs to spend about $93b per annum until 2015 to meet its infrastructure needs," said Ngure.

Average spending

This is about 10-15 per cent of its GDP, compared to about the five per cent average spending at present. Unfortunately for Africa, more than half of the continent’s estimated $ 45 billion annual infrastructure spending is not funded.

This state of affairs is worsened by the low fiscal revenues in most African countries, unpredictable flow from donors and debt sustainability concerns. "The capital base of multilaterals is limited, while weak institutional, legal and regulatory environment in most countries hinders public private partnerships," said Ngure.

But whatever the funding options, accountants play a crucial role by providing reliable financial information, ensuring value for money, and also giving out advisory services.

"Infrastructure funding requirements for most African nations is estimated at about 10 per cent of GDP per annum until 2020,"said Paul Nyaga, Chief Finance Officer, Equity Bank.

Although Kenya spends 23 per cent of its budget resources in infrastructure, this is not enough to meet growing needs. All traditional sources are not considered adequate, necessitating the need to explore alternative sources.