[Edward Kiplimo, Standard]The African Union is setting up a fund to finance the construction of much-needed roads, railways and power plants on the continent, its infrastructure head said, turning to new sources of cash due to donor fatigue and higher debt levels. "Africa is financially starved as far as the need for infrastructure development is concerned," Raila Odinga (pictured), who is the AU's high representative for infrastructure, told Reuters. Talks with the funds are going on and the AU's experts are setting up the legal and financial structure for the infrastructure fund, which will be administered by the newly formed African Union Development Agency, Odinga said. China, which has been one of the biggest funders of infrastructure projects on the continent over the past decade, has cut back on lending due to high debt levels among individual nations like Kenya. "This infrastructure is urgent for the realisation of the AfCFTA, otherwise it is just going to remain on paper," Odinga said.

Source: Standard Digital February 20, 2021 21:00 UTC