Editorial

The figures do not lie. Africa’s infrastructure has been playing catch up for decades. It is estimated that 60% of the population of Africa lacks access to modern infrastructure. And what makes for further grim reading is that 38% have access to electricity, 10% internet penetration, and 75% of Africa’s road network is unpaved. This bleak picture is confirmed by the World Economic Forum’s, Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 2018. It places more than half of the least competitive countries in the world in Sub-Saharan Africa, due largely to the massive infrastructural deficit. Ghana is ranked 106 out of 140 countries in the GCI. Furthermore, the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA) weighs in with the assertion that, Africa’s infrastructural services costs are more than any place in the world. There have been several blueprints and initiatives that capture the importance of infrastructure in continental transformation. There is the integrated strategic blueprint for continental infrastructure transformation for 2012-2040 also known as the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) 2012 and the adoption of the African Union Agenda 2063. All these lofty initiatives  come with big targets. PIDA  is projecting development of 37,200km highways, 30,200km railways and 16,500km of interconnected power lines by 2040. It plans to add 54,150 megawatt of hydroelectric power and an extra 1.3 million tons throughput capacity at the ports. These ambitious targets and initiatives have huge resource implications. How does Ghana fit into the grand scheme of things, in this unfolding continental masterplan for infrastructure development? The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa in its 2017 report indicated that $81.6 billion of investments were committed to infrastructural development in Africa in 2017 from all sources, up from $66.9 billion in 2016.

Infrastructural Planning

Ghana has a mind-boggling arsenal of infrastructural plans in its intellectual armoury. It reminds us of these famous lines from the English Poet, Samuel Coleridge Taylor’s poem, the Rime of the Ancient Mariner: “Water, water everywhere, Nor any drop to drink” Planning is not the problem. There are plans, plans everywhere. In planning terms Ghana is spoilt for choice, with a glut of plans that await prioritising and investment. There are Long – term Plans, Medium – term Plans – District, Medium – term Plans – National, Medium – term Plans – Sectors, Outline of Ghana Infrastructure Plan (2018 – 2047), Integrated Transport Plans, and erm…Flood Prevention and Disaster Risk Reduction Plans for flood-prone Accra etc you name it! This mish-mash of plans has led some to assert that Ghana has no inclusive strategic national development plan which is the preserve of all and not just politicians or a clear national vision that the citizenry has bought into. The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) which was established in January 2010 stated in its report issued in December 2011 that, the Commission was
“overwhelmed” by the clamour for a National Development Plan, although development planning was loudly absent from the raft of indicative set of issues for the consultative process. 

The lacuna did not prevent the populace from ventilating on this issue of huge national interest. The CRC reported that given the “widespread, consistent and clear” nature of the calls, the commission devoted Chapter 3 of its report, From a Political to a Developmental Constitution, to “National Development Planning”. Highlights from the Report outlined reasons why the (Long-term Development) Plan should be national in character. One reason that leaps out of the bag of reasons assigned is, “it will ensure that national development is not centred on sectional political party manifestos; manifestos must rather be aligned to the Plan”. Furthermore, the Plan should be binding on all successive governments as this will ensure that there are no truncated infrastructural projects because of partisan political expediency.