Environment
By Maureen Chigbo reporting from Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
AKINWUMI Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, AfDB, has drawn the attention of the world to the havoc climate change is causing in the African continent and the urgent need for world leaders to redeem the pledge of $100billion yearly for climate finance to tackle the challenge.
Adesina, who also said that Africa will need $2.7 trillion by 2030 to finance its climate change needs, made this known on Monday, May 22, in Egypt, while addressing the media as part of the side events at the ongoing 2023 annual meetings of the Bank with the theme: “Mobilizing Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa.”
“Anywhere you look in Africa today, climate change is causing havoc. In the Sahel, hotter temperatures are drying up limited water, causing water stress for crops and livestock and worsening food insecurity. In vast areas of East and Southern Africa, and the Horn of Africa, a combination of droughts and floods is causing massive losses of people and infrastructure, leading to rising numbers of refugees,” AfDB president said.
According to him, “There is still much to do, as Africa’s private sector climate financing will need to increase by 36% annually”
Realnews reports that the bank is championing climate adaptation efforts across the continent and has devoted 63% of funds to climate finance, the highest among all multilateral development banks. Stating that the bank not only fulfills whatever it promises but exceeds,” Adesina stressed that public finance will not be enough to tackle climate change challenges hence the need for private finance.
Realnews learnt that the bank’s new climate Action Window will support millions of farmers, enabling them to access climate-resistant seeds. The institution has also launched the Desert to Power initiative to develop 10,000 megawatts of solar power to benefit nearly 250 million people across the Sahel. AfDB is collaborating with the Global Center for Adaptation have launched the African Adaptation Acceleration Program, AAAP), to raise $25 billion to support Africa’s adaptation to climate change.
The bank has also established Alliance for Green Infrastructure, AGIA, in partnership with other institutions, to raise $10 billion in private investment for green infrastructure in Africa.
Adesina expatiated on the potential for using capital market instruments such as green bonds to back climate-related investments, adding: “If Africa had that money, the Sahel would have electricity. If Africa had that money, we would recharge the Chad basin, which has provided livelihoods for millions of people in Chad, Nigeria, Niger, and Cameroon. Everything will change in all those countries; we will green the Sahel. We will insure every single African country against catastrophic weather events.
“Africa’s measured natural capital alone is estimated to be worth $6.2 trillion,” which, if well harnessed, can spur rapid economic growth and wealth generation.
According to him, the Bank’s flagship Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation, TAAT, the scheme provides heat-tolerant seed varieties to increase yield in crops such as wheat. Ethiopia has benefited from the scheme and is now self-sufficient in wheat production and plans to export the surplus to neighboring countries, he said.
Adesina was accompanied to the media conference by Vice Presidents Professor Kevin Urama, Kevin Kariuki, Beth Dunford, Solomon Quaynor, Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, and Simon Mizrahi, who amplified his answers to questions journalists posed.
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Tags: AfDB Akinwumi Adesina Beth Dunford Kevin Kariuki Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade Maureen Chigbo Professor Kevin Urama Solomon Quaynor
