The African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched the Africa Circular Economy Facility (ACEF) at a total value of €4 billion in collaboration with the Finnish government, said Kariuki Kevin Kanina, the bank’s Vice President for Climate Action.
Kanina made the announcement on Friday during the launch of the facility during the 57th AfDB annual meeting that is being held in the Ghanaian capital of Akra.
Kanini explained that the facility aims to help all African countries adapt to climate change, noting that it focuses on three key pillars: building institutional capacity; supporting the private sector, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and expanding the membership in the African Circular Economy Alliance (ACEA).
ACEA was launched to stimulate the African countries’ transition to a circular economy model that provides economic growth, jobs and positive environmental outcomes at the same time.
To date, only Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa are members of the alliance.
Meanwhile, the AfDB’s Division Manager Gareth Phillips told Ahram Online that the AfDB is providing technical and financial support for Egypt’s hosting of the UN Climate Change Conference 2022 (COP27) in November, adding that ACEF will be a key pillar of COP27.
On his side, Finland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Juha Savolainen said that it is necessary for the continent to double financing for climate adaptation through 2025 to avoid the severe impacts of the climate change.
During the annual meetings’ events, the African Banker Award chose the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) as the best regional bank in North Africa this year.
In its Economic Outlook Report for Africa, published on Wednesday, the AfDB raised its projections for Egypt’s real GDP growth to 5.7 percent in 2022 – up from 4.7 percent it expected in 2021 – before slowing down to 5.1 percent in 2023.
The report also noted that Africa needs a sum of $32 billion to $40 billion per year to support the energy value chain to reach universal access for electricity by 2030.
