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The single most important feature and comparative advantage of the ICF is that it brings the skills, insights, practices and principles of business to bear upon the way it operates and solves problems. The Corporate Investors have agreed to work with the ICF Secretariat and Board to provide, in addition to their financial investment, such resources as the initial engagement of best informed managers in the issue/host country selection/project definition process; secondment of managers/specialists onto reform Task Forces; deployment of project evaluation and management techniques including approaches to political and project risk assessment and mitigation; development of fit-for-purpose reporting; use of market research techniques and value and quality assurance review processes. Corporate investors do not have a direct role in the funding decisions of the ICF. They nominate two individuals to the ICF Board and they meet regularly with the ICF executive secretariat to ensure that the ICF work addresses the most important constraints to doing business in Africa . The companies supporting the ICF also attend ICF AGMs and receive ICF reports and evaluations. The ICF's corporate investors include Anglo America plc, Celtel, Microsoft, Royal Dutch Shell plc and the Shell Foundation, SABMiller, Standard Bank and Unilever plc. Business Action for Africa, the international business network established during the 2005 G8 Summit, also strongly supports the ICF, and has stated its belief that the ICF will play a key role in delivering positive change for Africa and its people. The donor community will provide the majority of the funds for the ICF. Donors will have a total of three nominees on the Board of Trustees and may submit written comments on ICF proposals. Since the ICF is accountable to its funders, donors also attend ICF AGMs, receive ICF reports and conduct periodic external evaluations of the ICF's performance. The ICF's donor investors include the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID), the governments of Ireland and the Netherlands, the European Commission and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). African governments are the key stakeholder and main beneficiary of the ICF. They are encouraged to engage with the ICF to identify priorities for intervention, and may propose specific projects for ICF funding. They are represented on the ICF Board of Trustees through NEPAD and AU observers. The ICF has received the endorsement of several key African institutions, including NEPAD, numerous African heads of state, and the African Union. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has noted that '… the active involvement of the private sector in designing and leading the AU/NEPAD Investment Climate Facility is important – this is exactly the type of focused and practical involvement from business that is required. The ICF will be an important resource to create better conditions for doing business' (Business Action for Africa Summit, London, July 2005). Professor Firmino Mucavele, NEPAD's Chief Executive, describes the ICF as 'an African-led response to Africa's development challenges. It is an African facility, for our continent. The ICF will provide powerful support for NEPAD's strategy to galvanise the private sector in Africa.' The ICF has been endorsed by a number of international forums, including the G8 at Gleneagles 2005 and the Commission for Africa. The Report of the Commission for Africa (2005) stated that: 'African governments must unleash the strong entrepreneurial spirit of Africa 's people. To promote this, donor governments and the private sector should coordinate their efforts behind the proposed Investment Climate Facility (ICF) of the African Union's NEPAD programme. This requires US$550 million from donors and the private sector over seven years to identify and overcome the obstacles to doing business.' |
By investing in the ICF, companies and donors are supporting Africa 's own agenda for increasing investment, jobs and economic growth and attaining the Millennium Development Goals. The ICF offers a unique opportunity to work together, with and in Africa, to promote sustainable growth and development. A faster growing, more prosperous Africa is good for business.
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