The Africa Climate Summit which came to an end last week had $26 billion in funding pledges, this is according to Joseph Ng’ang’a, the Summit’s Chief Executive Officer.
He said this during an interview via CNN.
Ng’ang’a noted that the Summit was well attended by country leaders and other stakeholders across key sectors. He said:
- “President Ruto set an ambition in February to amplify the urgency of the climate ambition around green growth and climate finance and in six months flat, we are here celebrating that ambition and it has landed with global leaders, over 20 African heads of state, and 40 countries represented at the ministerial level, private sector, indigenous people, civil society, have come together.
- “The climate summit achieved two things – bringing Africans together, This is the first time we have come together as a continent and agreed on a climate action plan, shared it in a declaration, and negotiated it among all the African Union (AU) countries and signed it and had it supported by over $20 billions of global commitment towards unlocking that very ambition.”
What if the money never comes?
Addressing the issue of failed financial pledges in the past, Ng’ang’a said that this time it is different, and the optimism comes from the practical method of these new commitments.
According to him, the commitments have been defined in a way that it is companies that are already investing in Africa, he also said stakeholders know where the adaptation commitments are coming from.
He noted that the previous commitment of $100 billion was made but no one had any idea where it was coming from or where it would be invested.
He said:
- “Today’s commitments of $26 billion are very clear on sources and where the investments are going and some of those are in various stages of being achieved. One of the outcomes is a roadmap toward achieving implementation, so we will be holding ourselves accountable for that implementation.”
More Insights
During the Africa Climate Summit last week, several parties pledged to contribute funds for Africa’s climate action. Some of these parties include the Bezos Earth Fund, as well as the United Arab Emirates, announced.
Nairametrics has reported that the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development will provide $1 billion of financial assistance. The Etihad Credit Insurance will provide $500 million of credit insurance to reduce risk and unlock private capital.
Masdar pledged $2 billion of equity and will mobilize an additional $8 billion in project finance targeted to deliver 10 gigawatts of clean energy capacity in Africa by 2030.
Meanwhile, AMEA Power will help fund 5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in the continent by 2030, mobilizing $5 billion, with $1 billion in equity investments, and $4 billion from project finance.