NAIROBI, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday urged African nations to tap private sector funds in order to close the infrastructure gap.
Kenyatta told a business forum in Nairobi that public funding is not sufficient to finance all the infrastructure need due to competing priorities.
"One answer to the challenge ought to be the private sector which must step up to close the infrastructure gap," Kenyatta said during the Africa50 General Shareholders Meeting.
Africa50 is an infrastructure investment platform established by African governments and the African Development Bank to bridge the continent's infrastructure funding gap.
During the meeting, Kenyatta announced that Kenya will double its current shareholding in Africa50 to 100 million U.S. dollars against a total committed capital of 880 million dollars.
The Kenya leader said that the increased investment in Africa50 is justified because of its crucial role as a catalysts for development.
He noted that whereas the African continent has made tremendous strides in economic development, a lot more remains to be done.
He observed that political will to fast track development exists not only in Kenya but also in the rest of the continent.
Kenyatta added that Kenya has achieved notable milestones in its quest to improve its physical infrastructure.
He observed that in the past five years electricity access rate has increased from 20 percent to 60 percent of the population currently.
