Imbono, the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Abu Dhabi University (ADU) have signed a three-year academic partnership to develop a framework for assessing infrastructure resilience across sub-Saharan Africa, as governments and investors face growing pressure to ensure that roads, energy systems, water networks and social infrastructure remain operational over the long term.
The partnership will combine academic research with practical infrastructure operating experience to develop a Unified Resilience Index and a decision-support platform. The tools are intended to help assess infrastructure performance, identify risks and investment opportunities, and evaluate interventions that could improve the durability and reliability of projects across the region.
The initiative comes amid a substantial infrastructure financing challenge. According to the figures provided by the partnership announcement, Africa requires an estimated US$181 billion to US$221 billion annually to meet existing infrastructure demand. The announcement also estimates that recovering infrastructure losses across the continent requires between US$10.2 billion and US$11.4 billion annually, highlighting the financial implications of infrastructure deterioration, operational weaknesses and inadequate maintenance.
The challenge extends beyond constructing new assets. Infrastructure must also be maintained, adapted to changing environmental conditions and supported by sufficient technical expertise to deliver reliable services throughout its operational life. Roads that deteriorate prematurely, unreliable electricity networks and poorly maintained water systems can increase operating costs, disrupt economic activity and weaken the returns on public and private investment.
The partnership aims to address this gap by establishing a more consistent, data-driven approach to understanding what makes infrastructure resilient. Its research will cover energy, water, food and social sectors, taking account of the different economic, environmental and operating conditions found across sub-Saharan Africa.
The proposed Unified Resilience Index is expected to provide a structured means of assessing factors that influence infrastructure performance over time. The accompanying decision-support platform is intended to help stakeholders identify vulnerabilities and compare potential interventions, providing an evidence base for decisions on project design, maintenance and long-term investment.
For governments and infrastructure investors, such tools could help bring operational considerations into investment decisions earlier in the project lifecycle. Conventional project assessments often focus heavily on construction costs, delivery schedules and initial technical feasibility. A resilience-focused approach would also consider how assets perform under changing conditions, the capacity of local operators to maintain them and the financial resources required to keep services functioning.
The distinction is important in markets where infrastructure faces multiple pressures, including extreme weather, constrained public budgets, supply-chain disruptions and limited maintenance capacity. Inadequate attention to these factors can increase the risk of service interruptions and expensive repairs, potentially undermining the economic value of infrastructure investments.
Imbono Chief Executive Officer Marcus Weyll said the partnership would advance infrastructure monitoring and design by combining academic expertise with experience gained from delivering and operating infrastructure in emerging markets.
“This research partnership will be at the cutting edge of infrastructure monitoring and design and will advance the conversation to ensure projects are future ready,” Weyll said, adding that durability was fundamental to long-term performance, particularly in markets where operating conditions vary significantly.
He said the collaboration would bring together UCT’s academic capabilities and Imbono’s operational experience to develop a practical, evidence-based approach to measuring and improving resilience. The involvement of UCT and ADU provides an academic foundation for developing and testing the methodology, while Imbono contributes experience in infrastructure delivery and operations. The partnership’s effectiveness will depend on translating research into tools that can be applied across different asset classes and national contexts, where technical standards, institutional capacity and access to reliable data may differ.
The proposed framework could be relevant to Africa’s transport networks, electricity infrastructure and water systems, where reliability directly affects business productivity and household welfare. The announcement cites estimates that only about 27% of African roads are paved and that more than 600 million people lack access to electricity. These figures illustrate the scale of the continent’s infrastructure challenges, although the announcement does not specify the underlying reference years or datasets.
In the energy sector, resilience involves more than expanding generation capacity. Electricity infrastructure must be able to transmit and distribute power reliably, withstand disruptions and adapt to changing demand. In water systems, long-term performance depends on asset maintenance, water availability, treatment capacity and the ability to respond to droughts or floods. Transport infrastructure similarly requires maintenance planning and designs that account for local weather patterns, usage levels and operating conditions.
A common assessment framework could help decision-makers compare risks across these sectors while retaining the flexibility to account for their distinct requirements. However, its practical value will depend on the indicators selected, the quality and availability of data, and whether the resulting assessments can be incorporated into procurement, budgeting and investment processes.
The initiative also includes a capacity-building component through the sponsorship of two PhD students whose research will contribute to the partnership’s wider objectives. The programme is intended to support knowledge development in Africa while strengthening the research base needed to assess infrastructure performance and resilience.
Developing local research and technical capacity is particularly relevant as African countries seek to manage increasingly complex infrastructure systems. The ability to evaluate asset condition, anticipate maintenance requirements and measure exposure to environmental and operational risks can support public agencies, utilities and private operators in making more informed decisions. Building this expertise locally may also help institutions retain knowledge beyond individual projects and external consultancy assignments.
UCT Research Director Kathy Michell said infrastructure development and reliability had been persistent challenges across Africa. She noted that the joint research could produce a tool capable of identifying key infrastructure problems and potentially informing the development of long-term solutions.
The three-year partnership will therefore need to move from research design towards practical application if it is to influence investment decisions. Key considerations will include how the index is validated, whether it can be used consistently across countries, how frequently infrastructure assessments should be updated and whether public agencies and investors have the capacity to act on its findings.
The research could also help strengthen the link between infrastructure planning and lifecycle costs. An asset that is cheaper to build initially may require more frequent repairs or become less reliable under changing conditions. Incorporating resilience into project evaluation could make these trade-offs more visible, allowing decision-makers to consider construction costs alongside maintenance requirements, service continuity and long-term economic value.
Ultimately, the partnership between Imbono, UCT and Abu Dhabi University reflects a broader shift towards evaluating infrastructure not only by how much is built, but also by how reliably it performs. As sub-Saharan African economies invest in transport, energy, water and social services, the ability to measure and manage infrastructure risks could become an important part of protecting public expenditure and private capital. The initiative’s longer-term contribution will depend on whether its proposed index and decision-support platform can generate credible evidence that translates into better-designed, maintained and more resilient infrastructure.
