Description:
Infrastructure contributed 1.8
percentage points to Cote d'Ivoire's annual per
capita GDP growth over the mid-2000s before conflict began
to erase the country's infrastructure and its growth
contributions. Raising the country's infrastructure
endowment to the level of the region's middle-income
countries could boost the growth rate by a further 2
percentage points. Private sector contracts signed in the
1990s resulted in improved operational performance and
funding for investments in the water, power, transport, and
ICT sectors. Impressively, those contracts survived the
crisis and delivered uninterrupted service. But private
investment flows have decreased since the mid-2000s. Cote
d'Ivoire's most pressing infrastructural challenge
will be to regain the financial equilibrium needed to
restore a reliable energy supply. Reestablishing the
prominence of Abidjan's port will require investments
in terminal capacity and road and rail infrastructure
upgrades on hinterland linkages. The underfunding of road
maintenance and poor sanitation are additional challenges.
Cote d'Ivoire's annual infrastructure spending was
$750 million in the mid-2000s, with going to power sector
operations and maintenance. If the underpricing of power and
other inefficiencies (valued at $200 million annually) were
eliminated, the country s annual infrastructure funding gap
would amount to $1 billion, and infrastructure goals could
be reached within 20 years. Cote d'Ivoire's has
relatively good prospects for bridging its funding gap by
raising public investment from its low current level,
choosing more efficient technologies, and harnessing
additional private investment for infrastructure.