Pages: 18-28

Abstract

Africa has been endowed with abundant natural resources that can put the region in the path of sustainable development. The natural resources can be used as a means of financing notable infrastructure development that is significant in poverty reduction and improved livelihood. This can be achieved through innovative development financing strategies that can build capacity for domestic resource mobilization. The capacity of African countries to generate funding from domestic sources to finance short, medium and long term development planning has been crippled by the shortage of funds, the unequal distribution of wealth, and the lack of accountability. It has become imperative to use the bloc currency as an innovative development financing model to mobilize funds to bridge the infrastructure deficit in the region. The bloc currency is a situation when natural sources are used to pay for the infrastructure development or services. The idea of paying for the large infrastructure development with natural resources has been based on the expediency and rationale that since some regions in Africa have been experiencing challenges in funding their development due to the high level of loans and indebtedness and low savings, there has been a current need to adopt the bloc currency. It has been suggestively a modern barter system that permits Africa to use its natural resources to directly pay for the development projects that would propel the economic prosperity in the region.