ECOWAS's infrastructure : a regional perspective

Infrastructure improvements boosted growth in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) by one percentage point per capita per year during 1995-2005, primarily thanks to growth in information and communication technology. Deficient power infrastructure held growth back by 0.1 percent. Raising the region's infrastructure to the level of Mauritius could boost growth by 5 percentage points. Overall, infrastructure in the 15 ECOWAS countries ranks consistently behind southern Africa across many indicators. However, there is parity in access to household services -- water, sanitation, and power. ECOWAS has a well-developed regional road network, though sea corridors and ports need attention. Surface transport is expensive and slow, owing to cartelization, restrictive regulations, and delays. There is no regional rail network. Air transport has improved despite the lack of a strong hub-and-spoke structure. Safety remains a concern. Electrical power, the most expensive and least reliable in Africa, reaches 50 percent of the population but meets just 30 percent of demand. Regional power trading would bring substantial benefits if Guinea could become a hydropower exporter. Prices for critical ICT services are relatively high. Recent panregional initiatives have improved roaming. New projects are underway to provide access and improved services to unconnected countries. Completing and maintaining ECOWAS's infrastructure will require sustained spending of $1.5 billion annually for a decade, with one-third going to power. Although the necessary spending is only 1 percent of regional GDP, some countries'share is between 5 and 25 percent of national GDP. Clearly, external assistance will be needed.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Airports and Air Services,Infrastructure Economics,Transport and Trade Logistics,Roads&Highways

South Sudan's infrastructure : a continental perspective

Newly independent South Sudan faces a challenge in making its own way in infrastructure development. Despite earning $6 billion in oil revenues since 2005, South Sudan's spending has not been proportional to its income, but rather has lagged behind North Sudan's development of infrastructure and social support. South Sudan benefitted from strong donor support during 2004-10, the interim period defined by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. It focused on reestablishing regional transport links and access to seaports as well as rehabilitating its ports, airstrips, and single rail line. South Sudan also successfully liberalized the ICT sector. Nonetheless, the new country's infrastructure remains in such a dismal state that it is difficult to pinpoint a single most pressing challenge. The transport sector accounts for half of the country's spending needs, and water and sanitation account for a further quarter of the total. But so many improvements are needed that the nation cannot realistically catch up with its neighbors within 10 years, or even longer. South Sudan's annual infrastructure funding gap is$879 million per year. Given that the country's total needs are beyond its reach in the medium term, it must adopt firm priorities for its infrastructure spending. It also must attract international and private-sector investment and look to lower-cost technologies to begin to close its funding gap. Although South Sudan loses relatively little to inefficiencies, redressing those inefficiencies will be vital to creating solid institutions to attract new investors and get the most out of their investments.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,E-Business,Infrastructure Economics,Energy Production and Transportation,Roads&Highways

Sudan's infrastructure : a continental perspective

Improvements in infrastructure across Sudan in recent years have contributed 1.7 percentage points to the country's per capita growth. Consistent with trends in other countries, the ICT revolution that swept Africa contributed more than any other sector to growth in Sudan. Raising the infrastructure endowment of all parts of Sudan to that of the region's best performer -- Mauritius -- could boost annual growth by about 3.5 percentage points. Sudan has heavily invested in infrastructure in recent years. Notable achievements include tripling power-generation capacity, liberalizing the ICT sector, and connecting to an undersea fiber-optic cable. Looking ahead, Sudan's most pressing infrastructure challenges lie in the water and transport sectors. In the water sector, the country needs to dramatically improve access to safe sources of water and sanitation while improving utility efficiency. In the transport sector the country needs to vastly expand rural and international connectivity and improve quality across the network. Sudan presently spends about $1.5 billion per year on infrastructure, with$580 million a year lost to inefficiencies. Even if the inefficiencies were eliminated, however, Sudan would face an infrastructure funding gap of $2.9 billion per year. This gap could be reduced by half by choosing lower-cost water, sanitation, and road-surfacing technologies, and could be bridged by continuing to capture financing from the private sector and abroad.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Infrastructure Economics,Energy Production and Transportation,E-Business,Banks&Banking Reform

Diagnostic Accuracy of MR Mammography in Comparison with Digital Mammography and Sonomammography

Background. Even though the sensitivity of contrast-enhanced breast magnetic resonance mammography (CE-MRM) is consistently high in the range of 94-100%, conventionally, digital mammography and sonomammography continue as standard imaging modalities for the detection and evaluation of breast disease. The objective of the study was to detect additional lesions that go undetected by routine digital mammography and sonomammography using CE-MRM. Materials and Methods. In a prospective study, 68 patients who came for screening diagnostic mammogram and had breast lesions of Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System category 3-6 were evaluated. All patients underwent bilateral digital mammography and targeted high-frequency sonomammography of the primary lesion. Those patients who were thought to possibly have breast cancer and to be candidates for surgical management were offered bilateral CE-MRM. Results. In this prospective study, we included 68 patients (mean age - 50.6 years, range - 30-73 years). A total of 74 lesions were evaluated. In detecting these lesions, digital mammography had a sensitivity of 40.0%, specificity of 100% and diagnostic accuracy of 63.5%. CE-MRM sensitivity was found to be 71.7%, specificity - 96.6% and diagnostic accuracy - 83.7%. Among the 27 additional lesions detected by CE-MRM, histopathological evaluation confirmed only 19, indicating the sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 85.4%, positive predictive value of 67.8%, negative predictive value of 100%, diagnostic accuracy of 89.2%. Conclusions. The diagnostic accuracy of CE-MRM was found to be 83.7%, with a specificity of 96.6%. CE-MRM detected 19 additional lesions that were undetected by either digital mammography or ultrasonography. CE-MRM is sensitive in detecting additional malignant lesions which are not detected by other imaging modalities

Sudan's infrastructure : a continental perspective

Rupa Ranganathan; Cecilia M. Briceno-Garmendi

Private Provision of Infrastructure in Emerging Markets: Do Institutions Matter?

Governments in developing countries have encouraged private sector investment to meet the growing demand for infrastructure. According to institutional theory, the role of institutions is paramount in private sector development. A longitudinal dataset of 40 developing economies between 1990 and 2000 is used to test empirically how different institutional structures affect private investment in infrastructure, in particular its volume and frequency. The results indicate that property rights and bureaucratic quality play a significant role in promoting private infrastructure investment. Interestingly, they also suggest that countries with higher levels of corruption attract greater private participation in infrastructure. Copyright 2006 Overseas Development Institute.