By Francis Ogwo
About $25 billion naira is expected to be mobilized by the African Development Bank (AfDB) towards boosting the adaptation of Africa to climate change. This is with the formal launch of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP).
This was made public on Tuesday by the President of AfDB, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, at the Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) 2021, hosted by the government of the Netherlands and the Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA).
Adesina said: “Our ambition is bold: to galvanize climate resilience actions; support countries to accelerate and scale up climate adaptation and resilience, and mobilize financing at scale for climate adaptation in Africa.”
“Our Youth Adaptation flagship will unlock $3 billion for the youth, support 10,000 youth-led SMEs in climate resilience, and build capacity for one million youth on climate adaptation”
The former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- Moon was also applauded by Dr. Adesina for his role in the establishment of GCA’s regional office for Africa in Abidjan in 2020, which was hosted by the Bank.
Speaking further, the AfDB Boss acknowledged that the presence of John Kerry, U.S. special envoy for climate, was impactful to global climate efforts and added that “With you in charge, and the strong and palpable leadership of President Biden, we are reenergized on the global agenda on climate change”
In consideration of the huge gaps in financing for adaptation in developing countries, the former UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon, called for 50% of all climate finance provided by developed countries and multilateral development Banks to be allocated to adaptation and resilience in developing countries, noting, “the African Development Bank set the bar in 2019 by allocating over half of its climate financing to adaptation.”
The Ghanaian president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, noted that his country was working with the private sector with the assistance of the Green Climate Fund, “to establish a multimillion-dollar green fund to support our climate adaptation interventions and our efforts to transition to renewable energy.”
Note that the Climate Adaptation Summit holds annually to discuss emerging climatic issues and challenges facing Africa.
The AAAP, a joint initiative between the African Development Bank and the Global Centre on Adaptation, is expected to scale up innovative and transformative actions on climate adaptation across Africa.
