ICF Background

ICF was established on the back of increasing recognition that an improved African investment climate is fundamental for wider economic growth.

The Commission for Africa, in its 2005 report Our Common Interest, called for a renewed commitment to promoting growth and prosperity on the continent and called attention to a proposal being developed by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to establish an investment climate facility that would address barriers to investment in Africa. The Commission called upon donor governments and the private sector to support the seven-year initiative. The facility was subsequently endorsed by the G8 in a communiqué issued at a summit hosted by the British Prime Minister in Gleneagles, Scotland in July 2005.

Following the Gleneagles summit, a series of countries and corporations pledged to provide financial support to a new Investment Climate Facility for Africa. A Board of Trustees was established in January 2006, made up of African business and political leaders, as well as individuals with a strong commitment to Africa.

ICF was publicly launched at the World Economic Forum Africa Summit (Cape Town) in June 2006 and a CEO, Mr Omari Issa, was appointed in March 2007.

In April 2007, ICF signed an agreement with the Government of Tanzania to establish the ICF headquarters in Dar es Salaam, as well as to incorporate the ICF Trust in Tanzania. Operational activity immediately commenced and ICF’s first project, a partnership with the Rwandan Government, was announced in the same year.

Since its establishment in Tanzania, ICF has built a diverse project portfolio working with multiple African governments and a number of regional organisations.

In its 2010 report, Still Our Common Interest, the Commission for Africa highlighted the considerable progress made by African governments to improve the investment climate and called upon international businesses and donors to continue and increase their support for ICF

ICF Project Activity