Johannesburg — AFRICAN states were not doing enough to address the infrastructure backlogs hampering trade and regional economic integration, World Bank chief economist for Africa Shantayanan Devarajan said yesterday.

Mr Devarajan is in SA to consult with policy makers and civil society movements on a new World Bank strategy for Africa.

According to him, Africa must invest up to 93bn a year to build a world-class infrastructure that would stimulate internal growth and trade with other countries.

Africa's share of world trade is less than 2%.

He said that spending on roads, electricity, water systems, transport, communications technology and IT would enable Africa to grow at a faster rate.

"Five years ago we did not fully appreciate that the growth in Africa would be sustained," he said. This must be matched with a modern infrastructure facility that had the capacity to propel Africa's economic growth further.

Mr Devarajan also said that more measures should be put in place through policy reforms to improve productivity levels in Africa's economies. This applied more to the informal sector, as this was the economy upon which most people were dependent.

Ruth Kagia, the bank's country director for southern Africa, has urged SA to continue to campaign for the voice of Africa to be heard at multilateral bodies such as the World Trade Organisation, International Monetary Fund and the Group of 20 developing nations.