Egypt among 10 countries facing a collective USD 1 tn funding gap for infrastructure: Egypt was among 10 African countries facing a collective USD 1 tn shortfall of infrastructure financing required to meet their 2040 development goals, according to a study by the Global Infrastructure Hub (GIH) on the G20 wealthy and developing nations. The 10 countries, which also include Morocco, Ethiopia, Senegal, Tunisia, and Rwanda, will need a total of USD 2.4 tn in investments in water, electricity, roads, railways, airports, seaports, and telecoms to meet the UN’s development goals, the study showed. At their current average investment level of 4.9% of GDP, the countries will have a 42% funding gap of around USD 1 tn to fill.

With great funding gaps come great opportunities: The report sees this shortfall as a major opportunity that only the private sector can tackle. “African nations do not have the resources to ramp up infrastructure spending on their own, even with backing from aid agencies and multilateral donor institutions, and so attracting private sector investment is essential,” GIH Chief Executive Chris Heathcote told Reuters. “There is a wall of money being held by the pension funds. They are looking more and more at emerging market infrastructure,” he said. He noted that a number of international infrastructure development powerhouses, including Bouygues , Bollore, China Railway Construction Corp and General Electric are already active in Africa.