The African Development Bank (AfDB) said it has achieved a 100 per cent investment in renewable energy in the outgoing year, 2017, and also recorded a cumulative of 1,400 megawatts (MW) power generation projects exclusively from renewables within the year under review.
These marked major achievements in its commitment to clean energy and efficiency with plans to increase support for renewable energy projects in 2018, under the New Deal on Energy for Africa.The AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina, in a statement from the Bank said: “We are clearly leading on renewable energy. We will help Africa unlock its full energy potential, while developing a balanced energy mix to support industrialisation. Our commitment is to ensure 100% climate screening for all Bank financed projects.”
The share of renewable energy projects as a portion of the Bank’s portfolio of power generation investments increased from 14 per cent in 2007-2011, to 64 per cent in 2012-2016.The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), which goal is to deliver 300 Gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy in 2030, and 10GW by 2020, is now based within the Bank, as requested by African Heads of State and Government.
The G7 had also promised to commit $10billion to support the initiative, which came out of COP21, and subsequently approved by the African Union.On November 8, 2017, the African Bank Group approved its Second Climate Change Action Plan, 2016-2020 (CCAP2) as a clear message of its commitment to helping African countries mobilise resources to support the implementation of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions of Regional Member Countries, in ways that will not hinder development.
The approval of the action plan echoes discussions at COP23 in Bonn, Germany to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change and achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global temperature rises to 1.5C.The CCAP2 is designed to incorporate the Bank’s High five priorities in the Paris Agreement, the 2030 development agenda, the Bank’s Green Growth Framework and the lessons learned in the implementation of the first climate change action plan (CCAP1), 2011-2015
As part of its wider mandate under the New Deal on Energy for Africa, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank on December 15, 2017, approved an investment of $20million in the Evolution II Fund −a Pan-African clean and sustainable energy private equity fund.
The Bank’s investment in Evolution II Fund reflects the High five development priorities of the Bank, the agenda to light up and Power Africa, and the Bank’s commitment to promote renewable energy and efficiency in Africa.
The Evolution II Fund is expected to contribute to green and sustainable growth by creating 2,750 jobs and building on the track record of the Evolution One Fund (which created 1,495 jobs, of which 20 per cent were for women, and generated 838 MW of wind energy and 87MW Solar PV energy). It is estimated that the Evolution One Fund achieved 1,190,469 of Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission savings annually
