Africa should fix its infrastructure to stimulate continental trade, Kenyan President William Ruto said Monday.
Ruto told a continental forum in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, that intra-Africa trade currently stands at approximately 17 percent, compared to 40 percent in Asia and 70 percent in the European Union.
“A major enabler of continental economic take-off requiring considerable investment is infrastructure,” Ruto said during the African Private Sector Dialogue on the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The three-day event brought together trade ministers from the African Union as well as pan-African businesses to discuss mechanisms to reduce barriers that hinder intra-Africa trade.
Ruto observed that low infrastructure connectivity is a serious impediment to the continent’s ambition to realize its full trade potential.
He called for dialogue between African governments and its private sector to address the colossal demand for electricity, road, rail and port infrastructure in the region.
Ruto urged the private sector to deploy advanced technology in Africa’s priority infrastructure projects. Enditem
