The '
Infrastructure Consortium for Africa
'' (ICA) was launched at the 2005 G8 Gleneagles Summit, with the mission to help improve the lives and economic well-being of African people by supporting and promoting increased infrastructure investment from both public and private sources. ICA also acts as a platform to increase infrastructure financing, help remove policy and technical barriers, facilitate greater cooperation, and increase knowledge through monitoring, reporting and sharing best practices.

Sectors

ICA's work in infrastructure covers four sectors—energy, transport, water, and information and communication technology (ICT). The ICA Water Platform (WP) was established in 2011 and is championed by Germany, which provides financial support and an infrastructure expert to supervise implementation of WP activities. The WP facilitates cooperation and matchmaking between ICA members, key African stakeholders and the private sector, including regular dialogue leading to joint investment activities. ICA's WP encompasses all aspects of water infrastructure development in Africa, from water provision (e.g.,

potable water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ag ...

supply,

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

) to water resource management (e.g., storage,

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

s) and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

(e.g., adaptation measures).

Regional programmes

ICA recognizes that Africa needs transformative regional infrastructure projects if it is to meet its regional integration and trade objectives. To this end, ICA members champion four regional programmes
Horn of Africa InitiativeEastern & Central Transport CorridorsNorth-South Corridor
an
West Africa Power Pool
ICA also supports the African Unio
Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA)
which is setting the framework for priority continental and regional investments in energy, transport, water, and ICT.

Membership

ICA members include: * G8 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, United States) *

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Grou ...

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies i ...

(AfDB) Group *

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solutions ...

Development Bank of Southern Africa The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is a development finance institution wholly owned by the Government of South Africa. The bank intends to "accelerate sustainable socio-economic development in the Southern African Development Communi ...

Most recently, ICA enlarged its membership to include all G20 countries (G8 countries, plus Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, European Union, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey). Membership on the African side is led by the AfDB, while the

African Union Commission The Commission of the African Union acts as the executive/administrative branch or secretariat of the African Union (and is somewhat analogous to the European Commission). It consists of a number of Commissioners dealing with different areas of ...

, the

New Partnership for Africa's Development The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is an economic development program of the African Union. NEPAD was adopted at the 37th session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in July 2001 in Lusaka, Zambia. NEPAD aims to p ...

(NEPAD), and

Regional Economic Communities The Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa group together individual countries in subregions for the purposes of achieving greater economic integration. They are described as the "building blocks" of the African UnionAU and are also central ...

participate as observers in ICA meetings.

Secretariat

ICA is supported by a smal
Secretariat
that is funded by voluntary contributions from ICA members, and staffed by a combination of permanent AfDB staff, consultants and experts on secondment from ICA member countries. ICA is hosted by the AfDB in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

References

. (2007)
''Department for International Development Annual Report 2007.''
London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. {{ISBN, 978-0-10-294519-5

External links