Tunis — The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB), on 2 December 2009, in Tunis, approved the establishment of the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme Special Fund (CDSF). The Board of Directors approval is however subject to the ratification of the Board of Governors, upon which a Governing Council shall be created to provide technical oversight of the CDSF while its broad implementation shall be subject to rules and procedures of the Bank.
The objective of CDSF which is a joint initiative of the African Development Bank, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) is to contribute to an overall sustainable development and poverty reduction in Africa. CDSF will implement programmes that strengthen national and sub regional institutional capacities to overcome the lack of necessary climate information, analysis and options required by policy and decision makers at all levels within the current context of threats of climate change. The CDSF will specifically support operations in the following three main areas:
Generation and wide dissemination of reliable and high quality information on climatic situation in Africa;
Capacity enhancement of policy makers and policy support institutions to integrate information on climate change into development programmes;
Implementation of pilot adaptation practices that demonstrate the value of mainstreaming climate information into development.
Formulated to be implemented in two phases, the first phase has an indicative budget of about US$ 136 million for the 2009-2012 period while activities for the subsequent second phase up to 2020 are estimated to cost about US$ 800 million. CDSF will involve the mobilization and sensitization of development partners and donors, as well as Regional Members Countries. DFID has already pledged £10 million to support ClimDeve-Africa Fund. Other AfDB bilateral donor countries including Denmark, Norway and Sweden have also signaled their interest in financially assisting the CDSF.
The Bank has accumulated extensive experience in initiating, hosting and implementing projects and programmes using special funds and other resources earmarked for financing specific initiatives. Some of the funds hosted and managed by the Bank include the Africa Water Facility (AWF), NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility, the Special Fund for the Reconstruction and Development of the Great Lakes Region, the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI) and the Congo Basin Forests Fund (CBFF) which is also in the area of protection of African ecosystems.
The consideration for the Bank to host the CDSF is therefore in line with the Bank's mission and capacity to mobilize technical and financial resources to ensure appropriate climate information to promote sustainable development planning in Africa. The CDSF will be continually replenished to support long-term adaptation to climate change.
