It is pleasing, however, that efforts to redress this infrastructure deficit are at last gathering much-needed momentum, whether it be through established institutions such as the African Development Bank, institutions-in-waiting such as the proposed BRICS development bank, or through funding by way of private capital markets.
Furthermore, advances in ICT abound across the continent, with levels of connectivity heading steadily, rapidly even, in the right direction. Indeed, ICT is key to social and economic connectivity, as it renders payments more efficient and cheaper at all levels: domestic, regional, Pan-African and global.