Gigaba highlights rail, electricity capacity
RAIL and electricity capacity are key sectors earmarked for infrastructure development by government‚ Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said yesterday.
Gigaba said southern Africa lost about 2% of annual GDP growth due to a lack of infrastructure capacity‚ and that investment in these key areas would benefit business and allow for greater economic growth.
“We need to continue improving our rail capacity and reduce the tariff and administrative costs for electricity‚ ports and rail‚ so we can ensure greater uptake by business‚ including small enterprises and emerging black businesses‚” he said.
Gigaba was speaking at the first African Round Table on Infrastructure Governance in Cape Town‚ where more than 100 delegates from across the continent and other key global institutions‚ such as the World Bank‚ met to discuss infrastructure development on the continent.
“We need sustainable and affordable low-cost electricity capacity‚ and moving forward we need to expedite our broadband connectivity‚ so we can make it easy for small and township businesses to operate,” Gigaba said.
The conference was hosted by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).
It aimed to offer insights‚ new ideas and solution-focused tools that help improve the governance of public investment to deliver essential services and goods‚ with direct and indirect benefits for the economy and society as a whole. – TimesLIVE