ADGM-headquartered Global Climate Finance Centre (GCFC), a COP28 legacy initiative focused on catalysing climate investments and solutions, has announced that it has assumed the role of the host and secretariat of the Africa Green Investment Initiative (AGII).
The AGII, launched at the Africa Climate Summit (ACS), under the UAE’s Etihad 7 programme, is the UAE’s $4.5 billion finance initiative which is aimed at unlocking Africa’s green energy potential.
It brings together private, public, and development capital from the likes of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Masdar, AMEA Power, and Etihad Credit Insurance, with Africa50 as the strategic partner.
The GCFC acts as a global convener, bringing together key stakeholders from governments, financial institutions, philanthropic organisations, and the private sector to scale up investment and address key barriers hindering investment flows to climate solutions.
It shared that it supports African countries in their green industrialisation efforts to offer accelerated end-to-end green growth solutions, catalysing economic green growth on the continent.
Further, it supports green growth by fostering financial innovation for climate solutions, delivering market intelligence to lower perceived risks and improve decision-making, mobilising additional capital to move project pipelines, and accelerating project development through technical assistance and capacity building.
GCFC and AGII collaboration includes:
- Project pipeline acceleration,
- Capacity building,
- Innovation and problem-solving, and
- Market intelligence & analysis.
Commenting on the announcement, Mercedes Vela Monserrate, CEO of the Global Climate Finance Centre, said: “The Global Climate Finance Centre (GCFC) takes a significant step towards unlocking Africa’s green potential by hosting and acting as the secretariat of the Africa Green Investment Initiative (AGII). By working together with our founding members, we can leverage a robust ecosystem that catalyses finance to supports innovative green projects, empowers stakeholders, and fosters a sustainable future for Africa.”
Alain Ebobissé, Chief Executive Officer of Africa50, added: “As a strategic partner of the Africa Green Investment Initiative, Africa50 is leveraging its project development and fund management expertise to scale up investments and deploy capital into transformational green projects. We have a robust pipeline of bankable infrastructure projects that can support the continent’s dual imperative of decarbonizing its industrialization, while accelerating its socio-economic development.
“We look forward to working closely with The Global Climate Finance Centre and all partners, to drive innovative models and further unlock much-needed climate finance, which will help fast-track the continent’s energy transition.”