Friday, 11 November 2011
The Impediments to Building the Common Infrastructure in the Horn of Africa by Daniel Kendie
The infrastructure affects growth and development. It assists in coping with population
growth, in improving environmental conditions, in raising output and in lowering
production costs. It also helps to diversity production and to expand trade. Safe water is
essential for everything. The provision of energy and hydro-electricity is a must for
development. In effect, the infrastructure opens the path to sustained growth. If we
relate all this to the Horn of Africa, we will discover that the countries of the sub-region
have not made any appreciable headway in building the common infrastructure because
of the legacy of unresolved conflicts. Since so many interest groups are also involved in
their conflicts, no solution seems to be in sight. Among the conflicts are the territorial
disputes between Somalia and Ethiopia, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia,
Kenya and Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea. In a situation where the governments of the
sub-region do not therefore even have normal working relationships, to propose that the
common infrastructure be built would be either outright disingenuous or naïve. One can
write on each conflict. However, since time does not permit such a luxury, this paper will
examine in some detail the conflicting stakes of Somalia and Ethiopia to show how
irreconcilable their positions have been. It will then present a brief account of the serious
internal and external problems which confront the sub-region, and which need to be
addressed, and then conclude by making some observations regarding the infrastructure. Read more
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