(Ecofin Agency) - Investment in transport facilities on the continent should increase by about 46.4% next year, analysis firm Global Data revealed this week.

According to the study, this type of investment would reach $69 billion in 2020 from $47.1 billion this year, driven by monies pumped in the railway sector. Targeted projects make over 110,000 km in length (54,110 km for roads, 55,345 km for railway and 599 km for bridges).

Investment will be led by Nigeria ($7.6 billion in 2019 to $9.8 billion in 2020), Kenya ($9.5 billion to $8.5 billion) and Egypt ($5.6 billion to $7.5 billion); and is a way of accelerating the economic and trade integration process on the continent, launched in May, with the entry into force of the Agreement on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“Africa’s lack of infrastructure is a serious obstacle to growth and development, resulting in a low level intra-African trade and trade with other regions […]There is a clear appetite in the region to improve and expand trade, and a realization that to do so requires industrial integration and infrastructure development,” observed Yasmine Ghozzi, economist at Global Data.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou