Through partnering with the Green Climate Fund, AFC will have access to valuable resources to support investments across a variety of green projects

LAGOS, Nigeria, July 17, 2015-Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has been accredited as a partnering Institution to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), making it the fund’s first African development finance institution.

AFC was invited by the GCF to consider becoming an accredited institution, and following submission of its application in early 2015, AFC has this month attained full accreditation. Accreditation by the GCF enables AFC to access GCF’s committed capital of US$9.3 billion; a pool of funds for climate change projects to be utilized by members for on-lending, grants, lines of credit, guarantees and other fiduciary functions.

AFC intends to use the fund’s capital to further its investment in renewable energy, a priority sector for the corporation. AFC is the lead investor in the award winning Cabeolica project, a USD90 million, 26MW landmark renewable energy wind power project in Cape Verde and the first commercial scale public private partnership wind farm in Sub-Saharan Africa providing over 20% of Cape Verde’ power needs.

The GCF, with headquarters in Songdo Republic of Korea, is a fund operating within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). GCF’s objective is to promote the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change, taking into account the needs of those developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

Over time, the GCF is expected to become the main multilateral financing mechanism to support climate action in developing countries. With a total of 20 accredited entities, the fund is governed by a Board of 24 members and is initially supported by an Interim Secretariat.

Andrew Alli, President & Chief Executive Officer, AFC commented on the announcement: “This is very positive news as it reinforces AFC’s status as a multilateral financial institution. Through partnering with the Green Climate Fund, AFC will have access to valuable resources to support investments across a variety of green projects, making a significant contribution to the global efforts to combat climate change”.

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CAPE-TOWN, South-Africa-Africa continues to remain vastly unexplored, and making Africa’s most remote regions accessible for trade will not only promote prosperity in those regions, but also elevate the continent’s continued growth path.

commenting on the role of trade in ending poverty (all statistics sourced from report, jointly written by the World Bank group and World Trade Organisation and explaining the role that international trade plays in development and poverty reduction in Africa, the report states that the value of trade is measured by the extent to which it delivers better livelihoods, measured through higher incomes, greater variety of choice and a more sustainable future, among others.

“While countries need to continue to establish better trade relations with international partners, enabling trade routes within the continent can yield numerous benefits for the region and its people,” adds Brewer.

Having entered the African market in 1978, when the continent was still relatively ‘unknown’, Brewer says that DHL has explored the remotest of regions in Africa and witnessed these areas transform; both economically and socially, simply due to access to new services. He points to Cape Verde, situated off the northwest coast of Africa, as a good example of this. “Cape Verde is a small country consisting of 10 islands, and as a result, the quickest and most reliable way of transporting goods to and from the country is by air.

“Currently, there are three commercial airlines operating in the area and given that commercial airlines offer priority to passenger baggage, offloading of cargo from these planes was a regular occurrence. In order to better service the area, we introduced a DHL flight which operates between Senegal and Cape Verde weekly. This dedicated flight route provides various trade opportunities and greatly improves connectivity in the region.”

To effectively reduce poverty, growth needs to be inclusive, and poor people aren’t often located where growth takes place. The World Bank and The World Trade Organization estimate that one billion (15 percent) of the world’s population remain in extreme poverty, and that of this number, 415 million are concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report states that extreme poverty in many countries is predominately a rural phenomenon, and that an estimated 75 percent of the extreme poor in Africa live in rural areas.

Dr Jim Yong Kim, World Bank President says that beyond expanding trade, more must be done, such as building roads that connect farmers to markets: “We must always connect the poorest to trade opportunities.” ²

Brewer says that connecting rural areas to trade opportunities is a key focus for DHL Express in Sub-Saharan Africa. “We have made great progress in making the global market and the world at large more accessible and connected by increasing the number of points where customers can access DHL and our global network. We now have over 4,500 retail outlets across Sub-Saharan Africa offering DHL services. This allows anyone – from a student to a small business –access over 220 countries and destinations that we serve.”

The report paints trade as a key enabler of facilitating growth in developing countries and highlights that lower trade costs and fewer barriers between countries is vital to eliminating extreme poverty.

“Trade plays an essential role in driving private sector-led growth and job creation and can be a powerful force in reducing poverty and increasing incomes,” says Dr Kim (World Trade Organization has already implemented measures to facilitate trade by approving a US$100 million Development Policy credit to help the governments of Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire reduce trade and transport transaction costs.

“There needs to be a collaborative effort between the public and private sector to work together to ease doing business across borders. We work very closely with the government and custom authorities in each country on solutions to make doing business easier. There is ongoing progress with a number of successful trade blocs in place focusing on better connecting the region, and we look forward to seeing Africa continue on its growth path in years to come,” concludes Brewer.

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