ICA Annual Report 2011 - The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa

ICA Annual Report 2011
1. Foreword
I am delighted to present the ICA 2011 Annual Report, which analyses the commitments and disbursement flows
from ICA Members and other partners, towards the development of African Infrastructure. This unique and valuable report
charts commitment trends over the past six years, since the establishment of the ICA, in a conscious effort to map and
subsequently target infrastructure commitment and disbursement gaps, shortfalls and opportunities.
The 2010 Annual Report had highlighted maintained investment resilience in the financing for African Infrastructure and
had suggested that the increase of funding levels could be attributed to strong financial mechanisms put in place by ICA
Members following the 2009 global financial crisis.
However, the overall message from 2011 is less positive. Over 2011, the year in which the European sovereign debt crisis
deepened, ICA Members’ financial commitments to African infrastructure plummeted by 59%, the main cause of which
can be attributed to the 86% decline of Non-ODA to Sub-Saharan Africa. ODA commitments to North African infrastructure
declined by 27% while non-concessional lending to the sector declined sharply by 89% as North African investment
markets became unstable and un-predictable during the Arab Spring.
Consequently, significant and urgent financing needs remain. The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa
(PIDA) which was endorsed by the African Union (AU) in January 2012, predicts that, at the current rate, funding sources for
infrastructure on the continent could optimistically amount to USD30bn per annum by 2020, whereas delivery of the PIDA
is expected to cost USD68bn per annum through to 2020.
Encouraging, supporting and promoting increased investment in infrastructure in Africa remains at the core of the ICA’s
mandate and is key to closing the infrastructure financing gap. Furthermore, the targeted regional nature of the projects
which make up the PIDA require a large degree of cooperation and coordination by all involved in the financing and policy
implementation. The work that the ICA is doing to analyse and regulate Project Financing Facilities, promote infrastructure
understanding through the Knowledge Centre and open communications channels between various stakeholders is both
pertinent and essential for the success of Africa’s infrastructure development.
The ICA is on track to meet the 2010-2012 Strategic Business Plan (SBP) targets, and the current review and extension
of the SBP to 2013 is welcomed. Expansion under the G20 agenda will facilitate the delivery of the ICA mandate and
strengthen the presence of the ICA Secretariat as an infrastructure development catalyst. As host of the ICA Secretariat,
the AfDB will continue to be a strong supporter of the ICA and its Business Plan.
I would like to thank the ICA Secretariat for compiling and analysing the data which has been generously and comprehensively
provided by ICA members and partners. Furthermore I would like to express my appreciation for the ICA Secretariat’s
work under the ICA Strategic Business Plan, and thus their contribution to the scaling up of investments in African
infrastructure.
Gilbert Mbesherubusa
Acting Vice President for Infrastructure,
Private Sector and Regional Integration (OIVP)
African Development Bank
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