Africa is fortunate to be endowed with resourceful and talented people and a wealth of natural resources, including abundant land. The challenges that face African local communities are similar to those faced by societies worldwide:  how to utilize these valuable resources to implement effective, transparent management systems promoting service delivery, food security, climate adaptation, education, health, and economic growth.  ICMA’s strategy in Africa is centered on building the capacity of African institutions to harness their abundant resources in order to build sustainable communities with services and infrastructure that empower people to improve their lives.

As part of the US Government’s commitment to strengthen African institutions, the USAID signed a long-term Assistance Agreement in August 2010 to advance prosperity, peace, and stability in Africa with the African Union Commission (AUC) - a large multilateral organization comprised of 53 member states representing the African continent.  The agreement is implemented through the USAID/African Union program as part of the U.S. Mission to the African Union.

The AU-USAID Assistance Agreement includes two areas that present an opportunity for local and regional governments to build sustainable communities and improve the quality of life for their citizens:

• Advancing food security through strengthening rural economies and agriculture supports implementation of the AU's Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP).  CAADP's goal is to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture. To do this, African governments have agreed to increase public investment in agriculture by a minimum of 10 per cent of their national budgets and to raise agricultural productivity by at least 6 per cent.

• Promoting climate change through a Climate for Development Initiative to assist countries with adaptation to climate change.  Changes to the African climate, such as more frequent and severe storms, floods, and droughts and warmer temperatures, present serious risks to the well-being and livelihoods of millions of African—especially those who depend on the land and coastal resources for their living.  This initiative can increase resilience of communities, individuals, and natural assets to climate change and variability by building capacity of municipalities and regional governments to facilitate public and private sector initiatives that protect existing investments from climate impacts, maintaining development gains and contributing to economic security.

The AU-USAID Assistance Agreement presents an opportunity to support the development of regional initiatives supporting broad-based local services for food security and climate change in a manner that promotes local economic growth.  

ICMA has worked in African for over a decade and continues to support local governance in Africa through programs in Ethiopia and Uganda, as well as the USAID CityLinks Leaders with Associates award.