The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI) jointly hosted a 3-day virtual workshop to train development finance experts in Africa on climate finance action strategy and management.

The training aimed to equip participants with knowledge on how to scale up climate actions. It particularly focused on those from the financial institutions and the private sector.

Over 200 participants took part in the 3-day virtual workshop. These people were able to gain a deeper understanding of the roles of national development finance institutions in climate risk management.

In his opening remarks, Al-Hamdou Dorsouma, highlighted the Bank’s commitment to climate finance in the continent. He also talked about the need for partnerships to fight climate change.

“This initiative and the Bank’s activities in mainstreaming climate finance is to strengthen African countries’ drive to realize their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) goals. It will also boost partnerships and knowledge sharing on how to pull finance for various climate action projects”.
Al-Hamdou Dorsouma, Officer-in-Charge of Climate Change and Green Growth at the African Development Bank

Also, Davinah Milenge, Coordinator of the African Financial Alliance on Climate Change (AFAC) spoke about managing climate risks and the role of the AFAC.

According to him, AFAC brings together Africa’s key financial institutions “to mobilize private capital towards continent-wide low-carbon and climate-resilient development”. Some of these financial institutions include central banks, insurance companies, sovereign wealth and pension funds. Others include stock exchanges as well as commercial and development banks,

“The Pan-African alliance aims to put the financial sector at the center of climate action in Africa”.

Business screening toolkits

Moreover, there were presentations and demonstrations of two business screening toolkits. These were the climate risk and opportunity toolkit and the business carbon footprints toolkit. Experts from Natural Eco Capital, which coordinated the workshop, developed the toolkits.

Furthermore, Dr. Eugene Itua, CEO of Natural Eco Capital, spoke on the importance of environmental, social and governance criteria in the financial sector. He explained how this aligns climate risk with the Paris Agreement.

Also, Stefan Nalletamby, the Bank’s Director of Financial Sector Development, noted that climate change impacts were reshaping people’s perceptions about the environment and business. He noted that the workshop would provide delegates with enhanced knowledge of climate change-related risks. According to him, delegates will also learn about tools to mitigate climate change impacts. It also presented them with the opportunity to understand how to mobilize climate finance for organizational operations.

Financial sector credit facility

Furthermore, Nalletamby revealed that the Bank’s Climate Change and Financial Sector Development teams are working together to develop a financial sector credit facility. According to him, this will help scale up financial flows to green SMEs through financial intermediaries across the continent.

Patricia Ojangole, the AADFI’s first Vice Chairperson and Managing Director of the Uganda Development Bank, noted that climate change causes major risks with cross-boundary effects. However, she admitted that it holds opportunities, especially development finance institutions.

Consequently, there is a need to prepare for its negative impacts and work to significantly mitigate its risks. She stressed that African countries can bridge the gap in solving climate change related impacts. She cited adequate funding and skills in climate finance, as well as scaling up capacity building as key.