UN General Assembly
2009

and electricity projects on its own, although of course we welcome foreign investment. We can no longer, however, be held to ransom by foreign funding for those vital foundational elements of infrastructure. It is amazing and, indeed, shameful to see the low levels of electrification in Africa. In the United States, kilowatt- hours per capita are 14,124. In Africa, on the other hand, the figure is only 547 kilowatt-hours per capita. Some African countries have as low as 9 kilowatt- hours per capita. How could we expect growth and transformation in such a situation? The whole of Africa needs to wake up on this issue and cooperate to find a solution. The same goes for our high transport costs due to poor roads and poor or non-existent railways. In China, it costs $12 to transport a ton of cargo between Beijing and Shanghai by rail. In East Africa, on the other hand, transporting the same cargo over a comparable distance would require $65. We are aware of these bottlenecks, and we are dealing with them one by one.