The immense contribution of Investment Climate Facility (ICF) to improving Africa’s investment climate has drawn a commitment from the African Development Bank to partner the ICF.

Aly Abou Sabaa, Vice President of the AfDP has, therefore, challenged African governments, the African private sector and existing and potential new contributors to support Phase II of the ICF.

The partnership is aimed at consolidating their synergies, minimising duplication and building on the achievements in investment climate interventions across Africa.

AfDB recognises the importance of improving the business climate as a means of enhancing competitiveness and attracting private investments. To this end, the bank’s Private Sector Development Strategy and the Governance Strategic Framework and Action Plan support the vision of building a competitive private sector across Africa that will be an engine of sustainable economic growth, employment creation and poverty reduction on the continent in the next decade and beyond.

ICF’s quick wins implementation of reforms in over 30 countries on the continent has delivered, through an efficient modus operandi, a proven concept that has contributed to improving Africa’s investment climate. The bank and the ICF strongly complement each other. To this end, the two institutions are stepping up efforts to upscale their engagement through joint implementation of high impact projects, organisation of joint investment climate events, preparation of country, sector analytics, and embarking on joint resource mobilisation initiatives.

As part of the enhanced collaboration, the AfDB and the ICF organised a joint-side event on the margins of the bank’s 2015 yearly meetings held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire recently. The theme of the event, “Investment Climate: The Journey So Far”, served, not only to engender debate on the state of Africa’s investment climate, lessons learnt and proffer solutions to existing constraints, but also to mobilise both the private and public sectors, as well as movers and shakers, to play a key role in delivering greater domestic and foreign investment, with important long-term benefits for inclusive growth.

It was on this platform that Mr Sabaa congratulated the ICF for its contribution and assured the facility of the bank’s support.

The ICF has maintained that the success of Africa's socioeconomic development aspirations will depend on the level of private sector activity and a smooth public-private engagement – and this requires a commitment from African governments and institutions to implement investment climate reforms.