THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC’S INFRASTRUCTURE: A CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVE

**Table 20. Financial flows to infrastructure**

|$ millions per year<br>||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Operation and maintenance||Ca|pital expendit|ure||
||||||Total|
|Public sector|Public<br>sector|ODA<br>No<br>fin|n-OECD<br>anciers|PPI<br>Total capital<br>expenditure|spending|
|ICT<br>2.5|0.1|2.7|0.0|4.5<br>7.3|9.8|
|Irrigation<br>—|—|0.0|0.0|0.0<br>0.0|0.0|
|Power<br>10.1|11.3|4.0|0.0|0.0<br>15.3|25.5|
|Transport<br>23.1|35.3|29.2|0.0|0.0<br>64.6|87.6|
|WSS<br>3.2|0.9|6.7|0.0|0.0<br>7.6|10.8|
|Total<br>38.9|47.7|42.6|0.0|4.5<br>94.8|133.7|
|_Source:_Derived from Foster and Briceño-Garmendia (<br>_Note:_Public sector spending includes central governm<br>financiers include China, India, and the Arab countries<br>Financial flows for on-budget government spending ar<br>case to maximize data availability for SOEs; 2008–09<br>and PPI).<br>ODA = official development assistance; PPI = private p<br>Development; Capex = capital expenditure; ICT = infor<br>— = Not available.<br>In terms of GDP share, the<br>CAR’s existing infrastructure<br>|2009).<br>ent spendin<br>.<br>e the averag<br>average of d<br>articipation<br>mation and<br>**Figure 1**<br>Percenta|g (on-budget) and<br>e of budgeted am<br>isbursement is tak<br>in infrastructure; O<br>communications t<br>**8. Existing infr**<br>ge of GDP|state-owned<br>ounts for 200<br>en in the cas<br>ECD = Orga<br>echnology.<br>**astructure**|enterprise (SOE) spending. No<br>8–09; various periods are cover<br>e of external financiers (ODA, n<br>nisation for Economic Co-opera<br>**spending in a regional con**|n-OECD<br>ed in each<br>on-OECD,<br>tion and<br>**text**|
|spending is already quite substantial.<br>It devotes around 7 percent of GDP to||SSA||||
|spending on economic infrastructure.|<br>Low i|<br>ncome countries||||
|While this is the most among|Middle i|Fraile states<br>ncome countries||||
|countries in Central Africa and higher||Resource-Rich<br>g||||
|than the average for fragile states<br>(figure 18), it is only half of the 14|Central|African Republic||||
|percent of GDP that China has||Rwanda<br>Niger||||
|systematically invested in||Chad||||
|infrastructure over the past two|DRC C|ongo, Dem. Rep.||||
|decades. That said, the CAR’s|C|ongo, Dem. Rep.||||
|spending level represents an important|||0<br>2|4<br>6<br>8<br>10<br>1<br>|2<br>|
|effort relative to the size of its|||Capex|% of G<br>O&M|P|

In terms of GDP share, the CAR’s existing infrastructure spending is already quite substantial. It devotes around 7 percent of GDP to spending on economic infrastructure. While this is the most among countries in Central Africa and higher than the average for fragile states (figure 18), it is only half of the 14 percent of GDP that China has systematically invested in infrastructure over the past two decades. That said, the CAR’s spending level represents an important effort relative to the size of its economy and a still-precarious revenue base as the country emerges from conflict.

_Source:_ Foster and Briceño-Garmendia 2009.

_Note:_ O&M= operations and maintenance; Capex = capital expenditure; GDP = gross domestic product; SSA = Sub-Saharan Africa; the CAR = Central African Republic.

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