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Tanzanian green bonds draw global interest, backing
President Samia Suluhu Hassan speaks during the High-Level Segment for Heads of State and Government session at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai.
PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- Samia expressed her concern about unfulfilled climate finance pledges and the increasing frequency of climate-related disasters and underscored the importance of engaging the private sector instead of relying solely on public financing.
Dar es Salaam. The Global Centre for Adaptation is set to formalise partnerships under the African Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) to provide technical support for $700 million green bonds issued by two Tanzanian commercial banks to finance climate adaptation.
This was announced by President Samia Suluhu Hassan during the Adaptation Finance Summit for Africa session at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in Dubai.
CRDB Bank Plc’s $300 million and NMB Bank Plc’s $400 million’s multi-currency medium-term bonds were issued earlier this year.
“So, at least we in Tanzania are showing the way on how to generate funds for adaptation and mitigation,” President Hassan said.
She expressed her concern about unfulfilled climate finance pledges and the increasing frequency of climate-related disasters and underscored the importance of engaging the private sector instead of relying solely on public financing.
“We need funding now and this funding may not necessarily come from the public sector alone. The private sector is also here with us. Let us work together,” President Hassan said.
The high-level session was also attended by President of the Comoros and African Union chairman Azali Assoumani, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, African Development Bank Group president Akinwumi Adesina and philanthropist Bill Gates.
Dr Adesina highlighted initiatives by the institution in response to Africa’s climate adaptation needs, including the launch of the Climate Action Window to mobilise up to $14 billion to support adaptation for 37 low-income countries.
“I am pleased to announce here today that the operationalisation of the Climate Action Window starts right here, at this COP, as we launch the first call for proposals this week,” he said.
President Sall proposed exploring financing green projects, including adaptation, with resources initially earmarked for debt repayments.
“Africa remains behind in the adaptation process because it benefits very little from concessional financing and green investments. As a result, African countries are going into heavy debt to finance their green projects, which constitutes a double punishment for the continent that pollutes the least. Africa is not asking for a special favour, but a fair and equitable approach to the fight against global warming,” he said.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron stressed the urgency of addressing climate-related challenges in Africa and announced Britain’s commitment to spending $1.89 billion on adaptation in Africa by 2025.
He urged wealthy nations to collaborate with multilateral development banks to increase funding for vital schemes such as weather forecasting for farmers.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said there were “tremendous” investment opportunities in adaptation and urged countries to prioritise adaptation finance in their national budgets, particularly in managing extreme weather patterns like floods and droughts.
Philanthropist Bill Gates emphasised the urgency of providing additional dollars for climate adaptation, highlighting the vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climate change.
“We need additional dollars for climate adaptation. The vast majority of the people suffering from climate change are smallholder farmers. But there is no reason why we should not be able to double productivity in regions like South Asia or Sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.
