African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced the launch of a $300 million concessional financing program targeted at supporting climate transactions in Africa.
The Bank’s President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Prof Benedict Oramah, disclosed this during the opening of the ongoing Climate Action Africa Forum (CAAF24) in Lagos.
This comes amidst concerns that African countries are currently facing myriads of climate change issues that need to be addressed urgently.
Oramah said the governance framework for the program has been approved and the operational structure is currently being finalized.
“It is intended that this concessional finance window will be used to support climate finance transactions, in addition to other financing opportunities,” said Oramah, who was represented at the event by Afreximbank’s Director of Project and Asset-Based Finance, Helen Brume.
Climate change impacts on Africa
Oramah said though Africa contributes little to global emissions with 3.7% of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, there is a universal consensus that climate change adversely impacts the continent disproportionately.
According to him, the continent is already experiencing widespread damage attributable to climate change, including prolonged droughts, sea level rise, coastal flooding, and erosion, salinity in low-lying cities, loss of biodiversity, heavy rains, and reduced food production.
Corroborating Oramah, the Executive Director of Climate Action Africa (CAA) Grace Oluchi Mbah, said:
“Africa is warming nearly faster than any other region, with 130 million people at risk from rising sea levels. Yet, for me, the most personal impact of climate change is on smallholder farmers like my mother who make up 60% of our population and produce 90% of our food. Their lives and livelihoods are on the frontlines of this existential threat.
“How we react to the challenges we encounter is up to us, the stories we choose to write of ourselves are up to us.”
$20 million fund for SMEs
Separate from the Afreximbank’s $300 million, Mbah also used the occasion to unveil a $20 million Pan African Climate Action Fund. According to her, the fund will empower small businesses and startups working in energy, agriculture, circularity, and transportation.
While noting that the CAA is committed to investing and innovating to build a future of Africa that is sustainable, green, prosperous, and harmonious with nature, Mbah said the organization has also launched an initiative to promote tree planting across the continent.
“It is this drive that motivates us to boldly announce today the launch of our Billion Trees for Africa Initiative under our community programs. This ambitious project aims to address environmental degradation and enhance the ecological and economic resilience of African communities,” she said.
The CAAF 2024 with the theme, ‘Green Economies, Brighter Future’ brought together stakeholders in the climate change ecosystem from across Africa. The federal government of Nigeria, represented by the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Climate Change Rukia El-Rufai, highlighted the government’s efforts at mitigating the impacts of climate change on the country.
