Abstract Infrastructure has gone from being yesterday's news to a focal point of development cooperation, particularly in Africa. While the list of development challenges that infrastructure is assumed to improve keeps expanding, projects are simultaneously criticised for not yielding the expected broader development effects. What is it about infrastructure that holds such high promises of development? Has this changed between the post-independence period of large infrastructure investments in Africa and the investment boom currently underway – and if so, how? In this article, I examine the differences between how infrastructure investments are understood and implemented in this most recent turn, as compared to some decades ago. I find a similar development focus between the two periods, with a strong concentration around economic growth. Moreover, little has changed in project focus, despite a more diverse set of actors on board with the ‘infrastructure-induced development’ narrative. I use inter-boom processes to explain why the challenges related to weak capacities in domestic construction sectors have continued. The analysis further shows how infrastructure investment has taken centre stage because it manages to satisfy the interests of a range of different actors.

中文翻译：

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建立非洲的基础设施：恢复基础设施辩论的历史

摘要基础设施已经从昨天的新闻变成了发展合作的重点，特别是在非洲。虽然基础设施被认为可以改善的发展挑战清单在不断扩大，但同时由于没有产生预期的更广泛的发展效果而受到批评。拥有如此高发展前景的基础设施是什么？在非洲独立后的大型基础设施投资时期和当前的投资热潮之间，这是否发生了变化？如果是，那么如何？在本文中，我研究了与几十年前相比，在最近的这一轮中如何理解和实施基础架构投资之间的差异。我发现这两个时期之间的发展重点相似，都集中在经济增长上。此外，尽管在“基础设施诱导的发展”叙述中加入了更多参与者，但在项目重点方面并没有什么改变。我使用景气过程来解释为什么与国内建筑业能力薄弱相关的挑战仍在继续。该分析进一步表明，基础设施投资如何成功地占据了中心位置，因为它设法满足了一系列不同参与者的利益。