A Decade of NEPAD - Economic Commission for Africa - uneca
A Decade of NEPAD - Economic Commission for Africa - uneca
A Decade of NEPAD - Economic Commission for Africa - uneca
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30 A <strong>Decade</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>NEPAD</strong>: Deepening <strong>Africa</strong>n Private Sector and Civil Society Ownership and Partnership<br />
Initially, the BAA was launched with the support <strong>of</strong> six<br />
corporate sponsors who were part <strong>of</strong> the “Oversight Group”<br />
(the decision making body <strong>of</strong> BAA): Anglo American, De<br />
Beers, GlaxoSmithKline, Royal Dutch Shell, SABMiller<br />
and Unilever. The Prince <strong>of</strong> Wales International Business<br />
Leaders Forum (IBLF) was and continues to be the largest<br />
sponsor <strong>of</strong> BAA – providing in-kind support in the <strong>for</strong>m<br />
<strong>of</strong> staff time and the use <strong>of</strong> their <strong>of</strong>fice facilities. IBLF also<br />
has a seat on the Oversight Group.<br />
The UK Government was a sponsor from BAA’s inception,<br />
providing financial support from DfID and in-kind staff<br />
support from the Joint International Unit <strong>of</strong> the Department<br />
<strong>for</strong> Work and Pensions (DWP) and from the Department<br />
<strong>for</strong> Education and Skills (DfES). These departments<br />
were also represented on the Oversight Group.<br />
To date, over 150 business, business organizations, multilateral<br />
and bilateral donors, government departments,<br />
NGOs and academics have joined this ef<strong>for</strong>t. 80% are<br />
from the business sector – from small businesses to large<br />
multinational corporations, from national chambers <strong>of</strong><br />
commerce to international business organisations. The<br />
current sponsors and Oversight Group members <strong>of</strong> BAA<br />
are: Anglo American, British American Tobacco, Coca-<br />
Cola <strong>Africa</strong>, De Beers, DFID, Diageo, IBLF, Merck & Co,<br />
Pfizer, Royal Dutch Shell, SABMiller, Unilever and Visa<br />
The three focus areas <strong>of</strong> the organisation are: to positively<br />
influence policies needed <strong>for</strong> growth and poverty reduction,<br />
to promote a more balanced view <strong>of</strong> <strong>Africa</strong>, and to<br />
develop and showcase good business practice.<br />
The last major initiative to come out <strong>of</strong> the 2005 G8 Summit<br />
was the creation <strong>of</strong> the Infrastructure Consortium <strong>for</strong><br />
<strong>Africa</strong> (ICA). The inaugural meeting <strong>of</strong> ICA took place in<br />
London in October 2005 and was attended by a number<br />
<strong>of</strong> multilateral and bilateral aid donors and leading <strong>Africa</strong>n<br />
organisations involved in <strong>Africa</strong>n infrastructure<br />
development 38 .<br />
38 www.icafrica.org<br />
France<br />
France is another G8 member that has an extensive <strong>for</strong>eign<br />
donor presence in <strong>Africa</strong>. In fact in 2008, after the U.S.,<br />
Germany and Great Britain, France was the fourth largest<br />
development aid donor in the world.<br />
The ICA’s role is to help improve the lives and economic<br />
well-being <strong>of</strong> <strong>Africa</strong>’s people by encouraging, supporting<br />
and promoting increased investment in infrastructure in<br />
<strong>Africa</strong>, from both public and private sources. The ICA acts<br />
as a catalyst – enhancing, accelerating and precipitating the<br />
development <strong>of</strong> <strong>Africa</strong>’s infrastructure. The ICA’s sectoral<br />
work covers water, energy, transport and ICT.<br />
The ICA also works to help remove some <strong>of</strong> the technical<br />
and policy challenges and barriers to building more infrastructure<br />
on the continent and the organization strives<br />
to better co-ordinate the activities <strong>of</strong> its members and<br />
to leverage other significant sources <strong>of</strong> infrastructure<br />
finance, such as those provided by Chinese, Indian and<br />
Arab partners.<br />
The ICA is not a financing agency but it acts as a plat<strong>for</strong>m<br />
to catalyze donor and private sector financing <strong>of</strong> infrastructure<br />
projects and progammes in <strong>Africa</strong>.<br />
Current ICA members include the G8 countries, the World<br />
Bank Group, the <strong>Africa</strong>n Development Bank Group, European<br />
<strong>Commission</strong>, European Investment Bank and the<br />
Development Bank <strong>of</strong> Southern <strong>Africa</strong>.<br />
The ICA is supported by a small secretariat, which is hosted<br />
by the <strong>Africa</strong>n Development Bank in Tunis, Tunisia. The<br />
secretariat is funded by voluntary contributions from some<br />
ICA members and is staffed by a combination <strong>of</strong> permanent<br />
staff from the <strong>Africa</strong>n Development Bank and experts who<br />
have been seconded by various ICA member countries.<br />
Lastly, in support <strong>of</strong> the development <strong>of</strong> <strong>Africa</strong>’s agricultural<br />
capacity and food security, the UK has been a major<br />
supporter <strong>of</strong> both the Alliance <strong>for</strong> a Green Revolution in<br />
<strong>Africa</strong> (AGRA) 39 and the Comprehensive <strong>Africa</strong> Agriculture<br />
Development Programme (CAADP) 40 .<br />
39 www.agra-alliance.org<br />
40 www.nepad-caadp.net<br />
In support <strong>of</strong> regional infrastructure development and the<br />
<strong>NEPAD</strong> infrastructure programme specifically, Agence<br />
Francaise de Developpement (AFD) partnered with the<br />
Development Bank <strong>of</strong> South <strong>Africa</strong> in 2004 and established