By Francis Ntow
Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt), May 23, GNA – Africa must find the capacity to be autonomous and finance its own development, including addressing climate change for green growth, Moussa Faki, Chairperson, African Union Commission, has said.
To achieve this, the AU Commission Chairperson asked African governments to make moves that would lead to the evaluation of various donor-beneficiary financing models to reflect a win-win situation.
“Africa should find its capacity to be relatively autonomous and to ensure the financing of its own development. Partners are urged to pool their resources in order to have a collective effort to improve the attractiveness and effectiveness of external financing,” he said.
He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2023 annual meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) on Tuesday, as the Bank explores ways to tap into private sector financing for climate change and green growth.
The meetings, the 58th Annual Assembly of AfDB and the 49th meeting of the African Development Fund (ADF), are being held on the theme: “Mobilising Private Sector Financing for Climate and Green Growth in Africa.”
Mr Faki said even as African countries exploited and utilised various domestic financing schemes and their resources effectively, the international community ought to honour their commitments on rechannelling funds to Africa.
Touching on the theme for the meetings, he encouraged the private sector, who currently contributed about 14 per cent of global climate financing, to increase their share due to the deterioration and constraints in public finance.
Dr Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, President, AfDB, also spoke about the evaluation of financing models, indicating that current global financial architecture was failing Africa and developing countries, who faced multiple challenges.
As such, there was the urgent need for reforms in the global financial system to reduce costs, time and legal complications for debt restructuring for African countries.
“Just a few weeks ago, the UN Secretary General alerted the world that the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) are off-track. If the SDGs are to succeed, they need to succeed in Africa,” he said.
“With the SDGs off-track and only eight years to the target date, we must question if current global financial architecture can serve the needs of all the world,” the AfDB president added.
He highlighted the devastating impact of climate change on African economies including floods, droughts and wildfires and its resultant costs on lives and livelihoods, noting that the continent still had a brighter future.
“The future before us is full of challenges with climate change, but massive opportunities for green growth of our economies. Let’s unleash the power of the private sector for a greener Africa,” Adesina encouraged.
Abdel Fattah Elsisi, President, Egypt, also called for a revision on all conditions of finance to Africa, especially low-income countries by multilateral development finance institutions.
The Egyptian president was hopeful that the ‘loss and damage’ fund established at COP27, would aid climate-vulnerable countries in recovering losses due to climate change crisis.
African leaders have met in Egypt, together with some development partners, global experts, people from academia and businesses, discussing ways to increase private sector financing for climate change and green growth on the continent.
The week-long meetings, which started on Monday with some knowledge events would end on Friday, with the aim of strategising to mobilise more funds to climate-proof Africa and accelerate its growth and better the lives of its people.
GNA