A NEW fund to accelerate the building of infrastructure across Africa and reduce a current annual funding gap estimated at $45bn should be open for business by the end of this year, the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) predicted on Wednesday.Donald Kaberuka said support was growing for the bank’s proposed Africa50 Fund. Its main objective is to ensure that the continent does not miss a historic boat by failing to rapidly improve its key infrastructure at a time of high international interest.The fund will target a middle zone between major projects which will attract only public money and those such as submarine and overland cables which have clear appeal to private investors because they will swiftly show a return."There is a whole range of projects which fall in between, where a combination of public money and private savings together can actually get it going," Mr Kaberuka said in an interview in Sandton."They range in sectors from transport, maritime, energy, urb...
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