SMART Aid lays foundations for private sector investment across Africa

The Investment Climate Facility (ICF) is an initiative that grew from the 2005 Commission for Africa and started operations in July 2007. Its aim is to work with receptive African governments “to make the continent an even better place to do business”. It is currently active in ten African countries and working on four pan-regional projects and two other initiatives. The ICF is funded by eight donor agencies – Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, South Africa, the UK, the African Development Bank and the International Finance Corporation – and nine companies – Anglo American, The Coca-Cola Company, Microsoft, SABMiller, Sasol, Shell Foundation, Standard Bank, Unilever and Zain. Current projects cover issues such as improving land registration in Burkina Faso, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone; improving business registration processes in Burkina Faso, Liberia, Madagascar, and Rwanda; simplifying VAT administration in Lesotho; enhancing the commercial justice system in Mali and Rwanda; and improving customs administration in Senegal.