Speaking at the closing first day session of the Paydirt Africa DownUnder Conference in Perth, DLA Piper Australia head of mining and energy Robert Edel said an estimated $32 billion on roads would increase trade on the African continent by $250 billion over the next 15 years.

“This is best exampled when you consider there are only 10,000 kilometres of roads connecting African countries and between 60,000km and 100,000km of road network is required to sufficiently integrate the region," he said.

Edel said Africa’s energy sector also needed financial assistance, particularly when considering that 48 sub Saharan African countries generated roughly the same power output as Spain.

"However, there are challenges in terms of capital availability,” he said.

“This is dogged by the fact development costs for African resources and infrastructure projects are very high, the payback periods are long and there are sovereign, regulatory and policy risks not evident in other markets.

"To deal with these issues, China and North Asia will become the major source of resource investment flows into Africa."

He said Asian majors had already shown a willingness to lend for longer terms and at lower rates than their Western counterparts.

Edel said this willingness would likely be matched by North Asian credit agencies as strategic imperatives for North Asian governments were competition for resources, and a geopolitical, not just commercial approach to infrastructure financing – an environment less comfortable for western lenders.

However, as parting warning to his audience he said any successful development of African resources and infrastructure would involve significant interface with government as many African governments had key policy requirements for railways, ports, power stations and transmission lines.