By Albert Appong-Ansah, GNA
Accra, Oct. 13, GNA – The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has committed US$7.6 billion to Africa over the past decade, with further allocations dependent on countries’ readiness to present bankable climate projects.
The amount represents about 40 per cent of the Fund’s total commitments of US$20 billion over the period, making Africa the largest recipient of its funding among all regions.
Madam Catherine Koffman, GCF Director of the Africa Region, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra that demand for climate finance in Africa remained high despite the continent’s relatively small share of global funding.
“Africa is enjoying quite a substantial sum. However, we need more. The demand is huge,” she said.
Madam Koffman said the Fund had unlocked more than US$4 billion for investment in the coming year, with Africa hoping to secure about 40 per cent of the amount.
She said the continent’s share would depend on countries’ preparedness and their ability to present bankable projects for financing.
Madam Koffman explained that the GCF provided concessional financing to reduce investment risks that other financiers, particularly private-sector investors, might be unwilling to assume.
“Our funding is supposed to trigger three, four, five times what we give,” she said.
Madam Koffman said the Fund supported projects at their early stages by helping institutions develop and structure project pipelines to improve their readiness for investment.
Its financial instruments included senior loans, guarantees and equity, which were used to support project development and financing.
Madam Koffman described early-stage financing as relatively scarce, saying few institutions provided such support on a comparable scale.
She said the GCF also provided readiness funding to strengthen institutions, build capacity and support project preparation facilities to help countries develop investment pipelines.
On newly announced readiness grants, Madam Koffman said Ghana would receive US$3 million, while Mali and Burkina Faso were also among the beneficiaries.
She explained that the amounts allocated to individual countries varied according to their respective requests.
“If you put three million dollars of readiness into something, you can unlock six billion dollars of funding,” she said.
On accountability, Madam Koffman said the Fund had recently introduced a monitoring and evaluation framework to track the use of its resources and assess results.
Under the framework, each recipient was required to submit an annual performance report detailing the funds deployed and the results achieved.
She said monitoring criteria were also established at the beginning of each project to guide performance assessment.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Albert Oppong-Ansah
Email: [email protected]