Economic evaluation of public investment in infratructure projects in west Africa : an application to energy and transport sector

Abstract

Africa is a region needed of high investment in infrastructure facilities to improve its living conditions and incentivize its economy. International institutions and governments are committed to develop infrastructure projects in different key sectors. However, the decision-making process could result in a difficult task when assigning scarce resources to extensive needs of the continent. Most infrastructure projects are implemented as public investment with different financial sources. Despite, the corresponding financial evaluation of the project, an economic approach has to be performed in order to measure the project’s return for the society. Apart from this, it is important to develop an ex post economic evaluation as a tool for comparison purposes. The present study consists in the economic post evaluation of infrastructure projects in Senegal and Mali for the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), develop with cost benefit analysis for three different projects within transport and electricity sector. Direct and indirect economic impact are identified and measure in monetary values. The obtained results are compared with the ex-ante evaluation and sensitivity analysis are performed for key variables.