Outcome statement

Meeting of the Ministers responsible for Beira and North South Corridors

The meeting of SADC Ministers responsible for Infrastructure met to launch the SADC-PIDA Acceleration Programme held on the 3rd of June 2016 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe at the Elephant Hills Hotel.

The purpose of the meeting was for Ministers from member states served by the Beira and North South Corridors development corridors to consider, approve and launch a programme for the acceleration of priority infrastructure projects on the Beira Development Corridor and the North-South Corridor. The Beira Development Corridor is the road, railway networks and the pipeline running through and linking the Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and D R Congo to the Port of Beira in Zimbabwe whereas the NSC is the road, railway networks running through and linking D.R Congo, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, both corridors are of strategic importance to trade, transport and the integration of SADC as they facilitate the movements of goods, people and services between member states and between member states and international markets.

The meeting was hosted and chaired by the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development.

Member states from SADC were represented by Ambassadors, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Director Generals, Ministry Officials, Senior Executives from Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Other invited Member States that did not attend included: DRC, Lesotho and United Republic of Tanzania.

The meeting was facilitated by the SADC Secretariat, supported by cooperating partners including the SADC Public Private Partnership Network, the African Development Bank (AfDB), Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) and the NEPAD Business Foundation.

Dr Towela Nyirenda-Jere, representing the NPCA reminded the gathering of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and its Priority Action Plan (PAP) adopted in 2012 by the African Union (AU) focusing on prioritizing continental programs to address Africa’s infrastructure deficit. Dr Jere highlighted that the role of infrastructure development articulated in PIDA was underscored by the AU Agenda 2063 as the means to facilitate regional integration, industrialisation and intra-regional trade including the movement of people, goods and services.

Dr Jere emphasised the important link between infrastructure and trade, highlighting MoveAfrica initiative recently launched in May 2016 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) for Africa in Kigali, Rwanda. It was noted that the MoveAfrica Initiative which is part of the Continental Business Network (CBN) was created to address soft issues related to cross-border transport and logistics challenges on the continent.

Dr Jere emphasised that building on the success with the Central Corridor acceleration, the 2016 work-plan for the PIDA CAP would continue to support the Central Corridor and would replicate the acceleration methodology on the SADC Beira and North-South Corridors.

Perspectives from development financiers on the continent were also shared by the DBSA CEO Mr Patrick Dlamini. He underscored the need for strong political leadership to underpin and drive infrastructure projects on the continent. Mr Dlamini noted the consistent and sustained political leadership that was shown on the acceleration programme for the Central Corridor which was demonstrated by support from the level of presidents and ministers all the way through to official levels. Mr Dlamini highlighted the Central Corridor had a signed agreement between all member states (Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and DRC) and that they also already had an implementing agency – the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA). Mr Dlamini noted that sadly the North-South and Beira Development corridors were lagging behind in terms of signing the required agreements and establishing corridor management institutions to drive implementation of key infrastructure projects. The benefits of unlocking regional corridors were noted by Mr Dlamini as significant for the North-South Corridor including potential GDP contribution $16.1 billion per annum and over 500 Million jobs that could be created by 2035 through unlocking the NSC. Corruption was also cited by Mr Dlamini as a key area that required decisive political leadership in order to create an enabling environment for private sector to invest. Mr Dlamini concluded by noting that emphasis is on ensuring political commitment from all tiers of government for the delivery of the Beira Development Corridor and the North-South Corridor infrastructure was a matter of urgency.

The AfDB representative Mr Mamady Souare stated that the AfDB fully supports the replication of the Central Corridor acceleration programme on the Beira Development Corridor and the North-South Corridor. The AfDB urged member states that there was a need for continued coordination through joint ownership and setting up of corridor management agencies with sufficient delegated authority for planning, preparation and implementation of key projects. The AfDB highlighted that prioritised regional infrastructure programmes had a high likelihood of attracting finance, as such, the AfDB urged member states to look beyond just the financing of projects but to also strive further to define quality issues in design and delivery of projects. The need to leverage and optimise existing resources was also noted to be imperative in crowding in private sector financing.

Mr Kudzanayi Bangure gave some remarks in a Pan-African capacity, representing the NEPAD Business Foundation, as one of the partners of the SADC Secretariat focused on bridging the gap between public and private sector in the removal of blockages hindering implementation of regional development programmes. Mr Bangure shared views from private sector on public-private sector collaboration particularly areas that could be bolstered with private sector support to drive the development agenda. Mr Bangure highlighted that partnership between public and private sector in early stage project preparation, development of innovative funding and de-risking models, support to strengthen institutional capacity and skills were areas but to mention a few, that required a concerted, targeted and unrelenting effort to ensure infrastructure projects were prepared, developed, sequenced and implemented in a sustainable and replicable manner. The need for political will was cited as a key pillar in the success of the development and implementation of priority infrastructure projects which could be reflected in the support for key regional infrastructure programmes at the highest political office. Mr Bangure also emphasised that the aforementioned support needed to be enshrined in legal, institutional and governance frameworks that were not only crafted to perfection, but were implemented with the impetus and haste they required.

Minister Joram Gumbo from Zimbabwe urged member states to seriously consider the proposed recommendations by the Task force, while remaining focused on the bigger picture which the founding Fathers had in mind when they created SADC with a goal of moving “Towards a Common Future”. Mr Gumbo emphasised that focus needed to be on the regional networks which goes beyond national interest and he implored the meeting that in the spirit of regional cooperation sacrifices were required for the common good. The Minister noted that progress on the two corridors has been slow in terms of finalising the memorandum of understanding and he emphasised that there was a need to re-double efforts to make progress. The Minister also proposed reprioritisation of projects tabled for investment and funding if regional priorities had evolved over the years. The Minister noted that that the majority of member states in attendance were landlocked and required economic corridors to ensure imports and exports flowed at efficiently and least cost.

The Ministers made the following key decisions;

1. Launched a programme to coordinate the accelerated preparation of infrastructure projects in the transport, energy, water and ICT sectors, trade and transport facilitation and establishment of corridor management institutions on the Beira Development Corridor and the North-South Corridor.

2. Approved an interim institutional framework at the level of technical experts, senior officials and ministers to oversee and coordinate the programme

3. Approved preliminary priority list of projects on the Beira Development Corridor and the North-South Corridor, these projects include among others: Upgrading of key border crossings to One-Stop Border Posts (OSBPs) e.g Beitbridge, Kasumbalesa, Forbes/Machipanda, Plumtree/Ramakwebama, Zobue/Mwanza, Nyamapanda/Cuchamano, Martins Drift/Groblers Bridge among others as has been done for Chirundu; rehabilitation of key sections of the regional trunk road network including the dualisation of the Beirbridge to Chirundu road, upgrading of the bridge at Martins Drift; rehabilitation of the North-South railway network; construction of a dry ports; Construction of transmission lines to link member states; construction of damns for hydropower including the Batoka Gorge and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project; construction of the Durban dug out port among others. These projects primarily derive from the SADC Regional Infrastructure Development Masterplan, the regions blueprints for addressing projected infrastructure requirements to the year 2027 which was approved by the summit of Heads of State and Government in Maputo Mozambique 2012. Other new projects were proposed by member states.

4. Approved the criteria and methodology that will be used to identify, screen and prepare projects

In arriving at these decisions ministers reminded each other on the need for cooperation and collaboration between and among member states at the level of government and, private sector and civil society so that the combined efforts of all stakeholders will assist corridor states to address the sustainable development goals which are designed to alleviate poverty. Ministers also noted that the SADC region was rich in inherent mineral and natural resources whose exploitation is contingent upon the construction and efficient operation of these two regional corridors.