2023-04-20 20:39:10
ABIDJAN- The mobilization of private funds to finance green and sustainable growth in Africa will be at the heart of the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB), scheduled for May 22-26 in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt), indicated Thursday the Secretary General of the Bank, Vincent O. Nmehielle.
“The 58th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank Group and the 49th Annual Meeting of the African Development Fund will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from May 22 to 26, 2023 under the theme +Mobilizing Finance of the private sector in favor of climate and green growth in Africa+”, he affirmed during a videoconference organized in Abidjan, and moderated jointly by vice-presidents of the AfDB.
The meeting will thus be an opportunity to discuss the most effective strategies for mobilizing more private funds to finance the green economy in African countries and “in particular national resources from African countries themselves”, he said. supported.
Mr. Nmehielle pointed out that the climate finance gap in Africa “could reach 127 billion dollars (USD billion), even 150 billion USD per year by 2030”.
And especially with a “broken promise” by developed countries to mobilize USD 100 billion in climate finance for Africa, “alternative sources of financing are essential for successful economic transition and green growth in the continent. we have to make sure that these resources are well used,” he said.
To meet its energy and climate goals between 2026 and 2030, Africa will need USD 133 billion per year in clean energy investments, while annual investments in renewable energy amount to only 9.4 billion USD, according to an AfDB document.
climate finance in Africa: the private sector contributes only 14%
And at a time when private sector climate finance accounted for half of global climate finance in 2020, the majority (80%) of the $29.5 billion in climate finance flows to Africa was mobilized from international public actors, while financing provided by the private sector represented only 14%.
The share of financing from African governments only amounted to 4% of climate investments, according to the same document.
In addition, the ADB Meetings will coincide with the celebration of “Africa Day” on May 25, where a meeting on the contribution of African youth in the development of the continent is scheduled, said Mr. Nmehielle. specifying that several cultural events are planned on this occasion.
For his part, S. Quaynor, Vice-President Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization, stressed the importance of financial innovation for the benefit of the green economy in Africa, indicating that the Bank was working for the realization of an “African Alliance” between African financing institutions and investors to finance green projects.
For his part, Kevin Urama, Chief Economist and Vice-President Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, said that “knowledge-related events” will be organized during the Annual Meetings.
Thus, and to kick off these events, the Bank intends to bring together Heads of State and Government and world experts around a “Presidential Dialogue” on the evolution of the global financial architecture and the role of multilateral development banks (MDBs).
In addition, a “high-level plenary knowledge event” will feature the launch of the African Economic Outlook 2023, themed Assembly, in addition to three other thematic events.
These relate to the themes: “Leveraging innovative financing instruments to attract private climate investment in Africa”,
“Harnessing Natural Capital to Finance Climate and Green Growth in Africa” and finally on “Key Actions to Achieve Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa”.
According to Vice President Agriculture, Human and Social Development, B. Dunford, agricultural transformation in Africa, and the AfDB’s efforts in this area, will also be among the important topics to be discussed.
Despite its low contribution to global warming, Africa continues to suffer disproportionately from climate-related natural disasters and the continent risks losing between 2% and 12% of its GDP by 2100, depending on the different scenarios. global warming, compared to less than 1% for the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, or between 1% and 5% for China.
At COP27, held last November, also in Sharm el-Sheikh, the AfDB called for “global support for a just energy transition, meeting climate finance commitments and
the need to compensate vulnerable countries for the loss and damage caused by the effects of climate they suffer”.
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