Examining the state of infrastructure development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Infrastructure services are not only crucial for enhancing the welfare of the people but to also foster
economic growth and development. Despite these essential services, there is a glaring infrastructure
gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa more than any other region in the world. In the light of this and measurement
problems associated with infrastructure development, it is therefore necessary to highlight the state of
infrastructure development in SSA. This study examines the state of infrastructure development in SSA
by considering 43 nations over the period of 2000 to 2018. Infrastructure development was proxied by
the composite infrastructure index which include both the physical and social infrastructure. The study
employed Principal Components Analysis (PCA) in building the aggregate or composite index, and
descriptive statistics, stylized facts and correlation analysis were employed for the analysis of the data.
Findings from this study reveal that infrastructural development has improved significantly in SSA for the
period of study even though this is very low compare to the development attained in other regions of the
world, and most of the improvement are from physical infrastructure, most especially telecommunication
sector, and to a lesser degree, in health and water infrastructure. The study therefore recommends
that stakeholders should engage in policies design that will improve infrastructure development in SSA
most especially for the low income countries as majority of them were found at the bottom of ranking.
This will help in closing the wide gap of inequality in access to infrastructure services among the SSA
countries and other developing countries in other regions of the world.

Key words: Infrastructure development, Composite Infrastructure Index, Principal Components
Analysis, Physical and Social Infrastructure.