Over the last decade a dizzying number of infrastructure megaprojects across the Middle East & Africa have been initiated – ranging from transcontinental railways and integrated transport hubs to new smart cities and luxury holiday resorts. The link between a country’s infrastructure and its development path is fundamental; in the same way that modern ports, railways and roads are a prerequisite for efficient trading relationships, Africa’s rapidly urbanising population (the continent’s cities will need to house an additional 950 million people by 2050) means that new cities are essential.
By the same token, high quality infrastructure can act as a catalyst for growth, particularly for those Gulf petrostates that are looking to diversify their economic base. Moreover, eye-catching projects such as the futuristic city of NEOM in Saudi Arabia can be part of a soft power-play – a way of attracting further investment, people and attention to its shores.
Over the coming weeks, Diligencia will focus on a number of these vast infrastructure projects, looking at new cities, railways and major energy schemes as well as some of the leisure and entertainment projects that often form part of the development mix. As well as profiling a number of these projects and the companies behind them in detail, drawing on information from our online platform ClarifiedBy.com, we will also look to place them in the context of the investment and political context that often underpin major infrastructure initiatives.
Above all we will aim to bring clarity to this topic in a region that can be opaque and underserved by reliable business information. If physical infrastructure is essential to the health and success of an economy, we also believe that digital and in particular data infrastructure is as crucial to fostering progress in the region we serve.
I hope you enjoy the series and I welcome your comments or feedback at any time.
Best wishes,
Nouri Bakkali
Founder & Managing Director