(AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK) - The African Financial Alliance on Climate Change (AFAC) unveiled its guiding principles at the recently concluded Africa Investment Forum. Launched in June 2018, AFAC aims to increase financial sector participation in climate action, in order to raise the share of investments that support low-carbon and climate-resilient development in Africa. Its Steering Committee, which provides overall direction and guidance, is constituted to ensure representation by key institutions within the African financial sector, namely central banks, insurance companies, sovereign wealth and pension funds, stock exchanges and commercial and development banks.

AFAC will mobilize private capital flow towards continent wide low-carbon and climate-resilient development, addressing four key areas:  knowledge sharing, instruments, disclosures, and risks and opportunities that are fit for the African ecosystem. Additionally, AFAC will help to position and align African financial actors as key stakeholders in the evolving global climate finance architecture, by proposing solutions and attracting capital for Africa’s climate actions that support the Paris Agreement.

Commenting on AFAC, Bank’s President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said, “Africa’s financial actors need to work together creatively to mobilize global financial resources at scale to support local innovations that drive climate-resilient and low-carbon development on the continent. Having been short-changed by climate change, Africa must not be short-changed by climate finance.”

In his address, Lord Nicholas Stern (photo), the Steering Committee’s Chair, said, “Failure to reach the Paris targets would be deeply damaging for the world as a whole, but more so for Africa. This Alliance is an important initiative for engaging Africa’s financial sector to drive climate action. AFAC will form a vital foundation for climate-related governance, strategy, and risk-reward metrics towards low carbon and climate-resilient investments.”

Also present at the unveiling, Rwanda Finance Minister Hon. Uzziel Ndagijimana lauded AFAC as instrumental in defining pathways that would help direct financial flows towards Africa’s Nationally Declared Contributions and SDGs.

The Africa Investment Forum is an initiative of the African Development Bank organized in partnership with Africa Export-Import Bank, African Finance Corporation, Africa50, Development Bank of Southern Africa, European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank and Trade and Development Bank.

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About the African Development Bank Group

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 34 African countries with an external office in Japan, the AfDB contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states.