Jacob Zuma’s presidential special advisor, Lindiwe Zulu, has announced that African leaders accepted President Jacob Zuma’s report on progress made on the Nepad Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative for the continent.

The initiative is part of African countries strategy to champion regional and cross-border infrastructure projects in order to attract investments and enhance regional integration.

In the past two years, African leaders have held a view that regional integration is the best and perhaps the only way for Africa to realise its growth potential, participate effectively in the global economy, and share the benefits of globalisation.

Zuma presented a progress report on all the different projects that the other presidents are championing. Zuma himself is championing the North South corridor infrastructure project. This is a network of road and rail connections between South Africa in the south and Tanzania in the north and is comprised of of 59 road projects, 38 rail projects and six bridges.

The Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative is based on the AU, Nepad African Action Plan (AAP) and the Programme for the Infrastructural Development of Africa (PIDA). The PIDA initiative came after the AU raised concerns that deficits of infrastructure have a clear impact on African competitiveness.

“African countries, particularly those south of the Sahara, are among the least competitive in the world, and infrastructure appears to be one of the most important factors holding them back,” reads an AU report on the state of the continent’s infrastructure.

The AU says once PIDA is fully implemented, the outcomes would be a reduction in energy costs. Africa will reap savings on electricity production costs of $30 billion a year, or $850 billion through 2040. Power access will rise from 39% in 2009 to nearly 70% in 2040, providing access to an additional 800 million people.

The bank would work with other financing institutions where there is an implementation of the projects.