Your comprehensive guide to navigating and using the African Infrastructure Database. Learn how to explore projects, manage data, generate reports, and more.
Registration, login, and navigating the platform
Go to the AID homepage and click "Get Started" in the top-right corner, or navigate directly to the registration page.
Provide your name, email, organization (select from the dropdown or type a new one), and country. Choose a secure password.
Your registration will be reviewed by an administrator. You will receive an email once your account is activated. This ensures data integrity and security.
Once approved, log in with your email and password. You can also sign in with Google if your email is linked to a Google account.
Once logged in, you'll see the icon rail on the left side of every page. This is your main navigation:
Continental overview with maps, charts, sector breakdowns, and key statistics across all African infrastructure projects.
Browse, filter, and view all infrastructure projects. Access your organisation's projects and assigned project groups.
Edit project data, update progress, manage financing, stakeholders, and workflow stages for your projects.
Access the Activity Tracker, Project Fiches generator, integrations, and other productivity tools.
Build custom reports with flexible dimensions and metrics. Export to PDF or get AI-powered analysis.
AI-powered natural language search across all projects. Ask questions like "energy projects in East Africa".
Your command centre for African infrastructure data
The Dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of infrastructure projects across Africa. It adapts to your role — continental users see the full picture, while regional or country-level users see data relevant to their scope.
View all projects on a map of Africa. Projects are colour-coded by sector (Transport, Energy, ICT, Water). Click any marker to see project details. Routes are shown as lines for corridor projects.
Quick overview showing total projects, active projects, total CAPEX investment, countries covered, and organisations involved.
Visual chart showing the distribution of projects across Transport, Energy, ICT, and Water sectors with project counts and investment values.
See project distribution across Africa's five regions: Central, East, North, Southern, and West Africa. Click a region to filter.
Filter projects by major reference plans including PIDA PAP 1 & 2, SADC RIDMP, COMESA PIP, TRIPDA, and more.
Filter by sector, region, country, project status, or reference plan. Combine multiple filters for precise results.
Find and explore infrastructure projects across Africa
The Projects section lets you browse all infrastructure projects with powerful filtering and sorting capabilities.
Click "Projects" in the icon rail on the left. You'll see a list of all projects you have access to.
Filter by sector (Transport, Energy, ICT, Water), sub-sector, region, country, project status (Active, Completed, Cancelled), or reference plan (PIDA PAP, SADC RIDMP, etc.).
Use the search bar to find projects by name, PIDA code, description, or stakeholder name. The search looks across multiple fields.
Click on any project name or the "View Details" link to see the full project profile including map, financials, stakeholders, and progress history.
Ask questions in natural language to find projects
AID features an intelligent search engine that understands natural language queries. Instead of using complex filters, simply describe what you're looking for.
"Energy projects in East Africa"
"Transport corridors through Kenya and Tanzania"
"Water projects in the Nile Basin"
"Large power plants over 500MW"
"ICT broadband connectivity projects"
"Cross-border railway projects"
"Projects by the Nile Basin Initiative"
"ECOWAS transport projects"
"World Bank funded infrastructure"
"PIDA PAP 1 projects under construction"
"Completed energy projects"
"Active projects in Southern Africa"
Each search result shows:
Understanding the full project profile
Each project has a detailed profile page with multiple tabs of information. Here's what you'll find:
Project name, PIDA code, summary, description, objectives, sector, sub-sector, and current status. Key information at a glance with status badges.
Interactive Google Map showing the project location. For corridor projects, the route is displayed as a line. Host, beneficiary, and coordinating countries are listed.
Preparation costs, CAPEX, operation costs, funding sources, and financing gaps. Visual charts show the financial breakdown.
Year-by-year tracking of planned vs actual development stages. See if the project is on track, ahead, or behind schedule.
All organisations involved in the project — implementing agencies, funders, technical partners, and government bodies.
Physical measurements: length (km), power capacity (MW), voltage (kV), number of lanes, area (ha), and other technical specifications.
Edit and update project data
The Project Manager is where you update and maintain project data. Select a project from the sidebar dropdown, then use the tabs to edit different aspects.
Change the project's workflow stage (Draft → Pending Validation → Published), project status (Active, Completed, Cancelled), and publication state.
Add yearly progress entries with planned and actual development stages. Track whether the project is on schedule.
Update preparation costs, CAPEX, operation costs, funding sources (domestic, international, private), and financing gaps.
Record project indicators by stage — from enabling environment assessments through to construction and operation milestones.
Manage the organisations involved and the countries/regions covered by the project.
Submit Service Delivery Mechanism requests for technical assistance — prefeasibility, feasibility, structuring, legal, and capacity building services.
Track activities, events, and workplan progress
The Tracker lets you create workplan trackers for events, meetings, workshops, and project activities. Track progress, assign tasks, upload documents, and publish events publicly.
Go to Tools → Tracker & Events and click "New Tracker". Give it a name, description, type (workplan, event, meeting), and optionally link it to a project.
Add individual activities/tasks with titles, descriptions, due dates, assigned users, and priority levels. Drag to reorder.
Update activity status: Pending → In Progress → Completed. Add comments and upload documents.
Publish your tracker as a public event with a title, description, date, location, and type. Published events appear on the public events page.
Generate custom reports with flexible dimensions and metrics
The Report Builder lets you create custom analytical reports by selecting dimensions (what to group by) and metrics (what to measure).
Select what to group your data by: Sector, Region, Country, Status, Reference Plan, Programme, Sub-sector, or Development Stage.
Select what to measure: Project Count, Total CAPEX, Average Cost, Preparation Cost, Operation Cost, and more.
Narrow your report to specific sectors, regions, statuses, or reference plans before generating.
Click "Generate Report" to see results in a table. Use "AI Analysis" for an AI-generated narrative summary, or export to PDF.
Curate custom collections of projects
Portfolios let you create personal collections of projects for tracking, analysis, or presentation purposes. Think of them as bookmarks with superpowers.
Create named portfolios with custom colours and icons. Examples: "Priority PIDA Projects", "My Region's Energy Projects", "Upcoming Investments".
Use the 3-step wizard to find and add projects: filter by sector, region, reference plan, and status, then browse and select from results.
Add personal notes and priority tags (High, Medium, Low) to each project in your portfolio for your own tracking.
See aggregated statistics: total CAPEX, sector breakdown, region distribution, and project status summary for your curated collection.
Generate professional project summary documents
Project Fiches are standardised one-page summary documents for infrastructure projects. They can be generated automatically from the project data and shared externally.
Fiches are generated from existing project data — no manual entry needed. They include key facts, financials, stakeholders, and progress status.
Each fiche has a unique public URL that can be shared with external stakeholders, investors, or partners without requiring login.
Understanding permissions and data visibility
Your access level determines what data you can see and what actions you can perform. Access is based on your role, organisation, and geographic scope.
| Access Level | Who | Can See | Can Edit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Continental | Super Admins, AU/AUDA-NEPAD staff | All projects across Africa | All projects |
| Regional | REC staff (ECOWAS, EAC, SADC, etc.) | All projects in their region | Organisation's projects |
| Country | Government agencies, ministries | Projects in their country | Organisation's projects |
| Organisation | Development partners, banks, private sector | Organisation's projects + assigned | Organisation's projects |
| Explorer | Researchers, investors, no org | Published projects only | None |
Common questions and how to get help
Your account needs to be approved by an administrator first. You'll receive an email once activated. If it's been more than 48 hours, contact us at the email below.
Project visibility depends on your access level. You can only see projects within your geographic scope (region/country) or those assigned to your organisation. Contact your administrator for broader access.
Go to Manage in the icon rail, select your project from the dropdown, and use the tabs to update different sections (workflow, progress, financing, etc.).
Yes! Use Project Fiches for shareable one-page summaries, or use the public dashboard link which doesn't require login. You can also export reports to PDF.
Type any question in natural language. The AI parses your query into structured filters and searches the database. If AI is unavailable, keyword search is used automatically as a fallback.
For technical issues or access requests, contact the AID platform team via the Contact Us page or email your organisation's focal point.