"If not in Africa, where else? If not by the African Development Bank, who else? If not now, when?" It was with this string of questions that the AfDB Compliance and Safeguards Division Manager, Anthony Nyong, on Wednesday 22 September 2010, concluded his presentation on the Bank's efforts in hosting the Africa Green Fund to provide sustained resources to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change as well as support low carbon development in the Bank's regional member countries.
The presentation, titled 'The Africa Green Fund - Effectively Channelling Climate Change Finance in a Post 2012 Agreement', was preceded by another which specifically dealt with the "African Development Bank's Response to Climate Change in Africa", made by Ms Mafalda Duarte, Principal Climate Change Specialist. The two presentations made a strong case for the Bank to receive and manage resources allocated to Africa, from all sources including the fast-track financing and long-term pledges made under the Copenhagen Accord.
Mr. Nyong outlined AfDB's comparative advantages in hosting the portion of the global funds allocated to Africa. These include amongst others, its track record in development and presence throughout Africa, a core understanding of Africa's development needs and hence the Bank's ability to effectively integrate climate change considerations into all its projects and programs and the Bank's in- depth experience in setting up and managing similar funds. These Funds include the Congo Basin Forest Fund, the African Fertilizer Financing Mechanism, the African Water Facility, and the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Special Fund as well as the Bank's experience in leveraging additional funds through the Climate Investment Funds, the Clean Development Mechanism, and the Global Environment Facility and through the issuance of Clean Energy Bonds.
He further emphasized the AfDB's strong infrastructure portfolio in energy, water and transport, demonstrating the Bank's efforts in promoting climate resilient development on the continent. "The Bank has long positioned itself as a knowledge agent and has huge capacity to support African counties in addressing the challenges posed by climate change. Consequently the Bank's hosting of Africa's portion of resources will improve access by African countries, increase ownership and address issues aligned to Africa's development" Mr. Nyong emphasized.
In her presentation, Ms. Duarte highlighted the Bank's climate change activities and programmes as specified in its Climate Change Action Plan. She revealed that in 2009, the Bank's loan portfolio increased to USD 8.4 billion which was 2.5 times higher than the pre-financial crisis Medium-Term Strategy projections.
Summing up the session, the AfDB President's Special Adviser, Paatii Ofosu-Amah, assured participants at the Tunis Roundtable Consultation on the UN High Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing that since tackling climate change is a corporate priority of the AfDB for Africa's development, the Bank, alongside partners, was fully prepared to address its impacts on the continent.
Mr. Ofosu-Amah, who chaired the session, described the Bank as a credible institution with an efficient and effective management. "We are a focused institution - concentrating on four core-operational areas including infrastructure, private sector development, governance and regional integration; and in all these areas our operations are strategically geared to address climate change issues," he said.
Contacts
Ernest Achonu
