The European Investment Bank (EIB) provided €5 billion in finances for new private and public investments across Africa in 2020.
The sum is the largest annual EIB engagement in 55 years of operations in the continent and the largest support for climate action and investment in fragile states, the EIB said.
The news was announced on the sidelines of the EU-Africa Green Investment Forum on Friday in Lisbon.
The finances, alongside technical support, back more than €12 billion of new investments to improve agriculture and access to off-grid renewable energy. They are also meant to accelerate rural electrification, affordable housing, communications, climate resilience, climate insurance for small holders, healthcare, and private sector access to finance in the continent, according to the EIB.
They also represented a 50 percent increase in engagement compared to 2019.
The EIB move reflected the rapid response to strengthen public health investment, ensure access to safe and affordable COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX, and accelerated access to finance to increase economic resilience. The investments target helping entrepreneurs and private business to withstand unprecedented challenges caused by the pandemic, said the EIB.
“The EIB is fully engaged in supporting a green recovery for Africa through finance and expertise, also on the ground. In recent weeks, ahead of the EU-Africa Green Investment Forum, the EU Bank and the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU have brought together thousands of development partners across Africa in a series of Green Talk dialogues. This is a great demonstration of how investment in Africa can and must deliver sustainable development building on best-practice,” said Werner Hoyer, the president of the EIB.
The EIB engagement directly supported 58 projects in 28 African countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, 71 percent of the new EIB engagement confirmed in 2020 is supporting investment in fragile states and least developed economies.
