Africa Investment Forum showcases $1.475 billion in green and renewable energy deals at African Development Bank 2023 Annual Meetings
The Africa Investment Forum presented four renewable energy and sustainability projects worth nearly $1.5 billion to investors on the sidelines of the African Development Bank Group’s 2023 Annual Meetings.
The curated projects, which are drawn from all of Africa’s regions, are sourced from the Africa Investment Forum’s pipeline. They reflect gathering urgency in Africa, the world’s most vulnerable region to climate change, to accelerate climate action, including closing financing gaps by securing an ever-increasing share of global capital for the continent.
The African Development Bank’s 2023 Annual Meetings are being held under the theme, Mobilizing Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa.
The investment roundtable, held in Sharm El Sheikh, attracted a range of private investors, including venture capital and private equity firms.
African Development Bank Group, JICA sign $350 million loan agreement to support Africa’s private sector
The African Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) today signed a JPY 44,100,000,000 ($350 million) loan to finance the Bank’s support for private sector operations in Africa.
The loan comes under the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance (EPSA) initiative, which is a component of Japan’s Official Development Assistance to Africa. The fifth version of EPSA, for an amount of $4 billion, was signed by the Bank and JICA at the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8), held in Tunis last August.
Democratic Republic of Congo: EU allocates over €32 million in additional humanitarian funding
The humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to deteriorate, especially in the east of the country. As a result, the EU is allocating an additional €32.7 million, to support the humanitarian crisis response in the country.
The new funding comes in addition to the €45.7 million announced earlier this year and brings the total funding for the DRC to almost €80 million for 2023. This funding will be channelled through humanitarian organisations to cover immediate needs such as nutrition, healthcare, water and sanitation, shelter and protection.
African Development Fund, Smart Africa Alliance launch $1.5 million project to enhance digital trade and e-commerce ecosystems across Africa
The African Development Fund and Smart Africa Alliance have jointly launched a $1.5 million project to streamline digital trade and e-commerce policies across 10 African countries.
The Institutional Support for Digital Payments and e-Commerce Policies for Cross-Border Trade Project (IDECT) will evaluate policy gaps in the digital trade and e-commerce ecosystems of Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, the Republic of Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Greater Horn of Africa: EU allocates €331 million in humanitarian aid
The Greater Horn of Africa region is facing multiple and overlapping humanitarian crises with more than 50 million people in urgent need of food assistance. To help, the Commission will provide some €331 million in humanitarian aid primarily targeting food insecurity as well as addressing the needs of displaced persons and refugees, disaster preparedness, and education in emergencies.
Global Gateway: Team Europe invests in transformative green mobility in Nairobi
Today, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Kenyan President William Ruto, met in Brussels to discuss how to strengthen the partnership between the EU and Kenya and opportunities to drive the green and digital transitions in Kenya under Global Gateway. As a concrete deliverable, on the sidelines of the meeting, Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen and Cabinet Secretary for Transport Cooperation Mr Kipchumba Murkomen signed a declaration of intention to finance the electric bus line “Nairobi Core Bus Rapid Transit Line 3” (BRT 3) for a total amount of €347.6 million, including €45 million in grants from the EU budget. By supporting the implementation of a safe, clean, high quality and efficient public transport system in Nairobi, Team Europe is the key partner in Kenya's green transition.
Nigeria formally joins UN Water Convention
10 countries from Africa, Middle East and Latin America commit to join key water-sharing treaty, as UN sets membership target for half of all countries by 2030.
In what could constitute a major long-term outcome of the summit, governments are seizing the UN Water Convention to support practical cooperation measures – urgently needed as 153 states worldwide share water resources – as a precondition to tackle the global water crisis.
African Development Bank and partners invest $618 million in Nigeria’s digital and creative industries
The African Development Bank and partners on Tuesday launched a new Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme.
The initiative, with investments totalling $618 million, will attract direct investments in more than 200 technology and creative start-ups and provide non-financial services to about 450 digital technology, small and medium enterprises. With a potential to generate $6.4 billion into the Nigeria’s economy, iDICE is expected to create 6 million new jobs for young Nigerians.
Speaking at the launch event in the capital Abuja, Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo emphasised the importance of a coordinated approach to innovation across Africa. “Government must provide more support for start-ups and small businesses, and investors must provide more funding," Osinbajo said.
The African Development Bank Group is the largest funder of iDICE, providing $170 million. The French government, through the Agence Française de Développement, will contribute €100 million ($116 million), and the Islamic Development Bank pending approval from its board is expected to provide $70 million. The Nigerian government, through its executing agency, the Bank of Industry, will provide $45 million in counterpart funding. Other institutional and private sector investors are also expected to provide additional funding for the implementation of the strategic initiative.
One Year Later: The impact of the Russian conflict with Ukraine on Africa
In today’s interconnected world, shots fired in one corner of the globe create ripple effects in other, seemingly far, places. One year since the 24 February Russian invasion of Ukraine, African countries, although physically miles away, have not been spared its aftershocks.
While much can be said about the political and policy intricacies surrounding the conflict, the real and palpable impact on the lives of many ordinary Africans is equally unsettling.
Against a backdrop of soaring food and energy prices and the shrinking basket of global economic cooperation financing, African countries are also contending with how to position themselves within the significant shifts in international energy policies, even as they are approached by various partners who are also grappling with the energy access implications for their own citizens.
In 2020, 15 African countries imported over 50 per cent of their wheat products from the Russian Federation or Ukraine. Six of these countries (Eritrea, Egypt, Benin, Sudan, Djibouti, and Tanzania) imported over 70 per cent of their wheat from the region.
Morocco: African Development Bank Group strengthens its technical assistance to boost water resources
Financing
Approval Date: 21 December 2022
Project name: Technical Assistance for Dam Design and Interconnection Studies
Amount: €201,000
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Objectives
The grant, extended through the Bank's Technical Assistance Fund for Middle-Income Countries, will support technical assistance to the Government of Morocco for the design of dams, river development and inter-basin interconnection studies. The beneficiary institution is the Directorate of Hydraulic Development of the Ministry of Equipment and Water.