Infrastructure and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: A review

Arbeitspapier

This paper reviews the book 'Infrastructure and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa' by Antonio Estache and Quentin Wodon. The authors summarize the political debate on infrastructure policy in Africa in a very compelling and knowledgeable way and make a convincing case for pro-poor subsidies. Yet, this review points out two reservations: The evidence on the welfare enhancing benefits of infrastructure investments is less conclusive than suggested in the book. The book also misses out on the recent technological developments that enable the provision of decentralized services, which might render classical network based infrastructure partly redundant in the future.

Object Details

• ISBN: 978-3-86788-730-4
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Ruhr Economic Papers ; No. 628

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: Infrastructures; Other Public Investment and Capital Stock ; Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products ; Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure ; Transportation: General ; Gas Utilities; Pipelines; Water Utilities ; Telecommunications
• Subject: electrification ; road infrastructure ; water and sanitation

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Peters, Jörg
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung
• (where): Essen
• (when): 2016

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.4419/86788730
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/144770
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET