ABIDJAN, Côte d'Ivoire, 02 December 2016 / PRN Africa / -- Financial commitments to Africa's infrastructure development in 2015 totalled $83.4bn, a 12% increase from the previous year, a report by the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa's (ICA) revealed.

The Infrastructure Financing Trends in Africa 2015 report was released during the ICA annual meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire from November 22-23 under the theme: ““Building quality infrastructure for Africa's development.”

The two-day meetings, jointly organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and ICA secretariat was attended by 150 participants.

This year's report includes a more detailed analysis of the processes and dynamics that drive infrastructure investment, and incorporates the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including the private sector. “The ICA is delighted that its flagship report makes such valuable contributions to Africa's infrastructure development,” Mohamed Hassan, Coordinator of the ICA Secretariat told participants who commended the report for the consistency of the quantitative data and the continuing trend for greater qualitative analysis.

The ICA's annual report on infrastructure financing in Africa is a unique publication and an important tool for infrastructure planners, financiers and decision-makers across the continent.

One key session of the ICA members' meeting on 21 November 2016 was chaired by Seiji Okada, Ambassador for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan. Stefan Nalletamby, AfDB's Acting Vice President for Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration, presided over the afternoon deliberations.

Presentations were made on a number of completed and ongoing studies including: the Atlas of Africa Energy Resources; the report on Africa Power Pools; the Diagnostic Study and Project Development/Investment Pipeline for Urban Transport in Sub-Saharan Africa; the second edition of the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) Sourcebook; and Nexus Trade-offs and Strategies for Addressing the Water, Agriculture and Energy Security Nexus in Africa.

The ICA Secretariat briefed participants on the ICA's support for the Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP), which aims to integrate water security and climate resilience in development planning processes. ICA's work plan for 2017 was also shared.

Hosted by the AfDB, ICA was launched at the 2005 G8 Gleneagles Summit. Its mission is 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, helping to remove policy and technical barriers. In addition, the ICA facilitates greater cooperation among stakeholders, and fosters knowledge exchange through monitoring, reporting and sharing best practices.

SOURCE African Development Bank (AfDB)