The African Financial Alliance on Climate Change (AFAC) unveiled a new vision for 2030 during the global climate summit (COP27), prioritizing mobilizing capital and tools to meet the Paris Agreement goal.
AFAC, a pan-African alliance of Africa’s key financial institutions and commercial and development banks, mobilizes private capital to support continent-wide low-carbon and climate-resilient development.
The new blueprint mainly focused on aligning financial flows with achieving greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development by 2030. It proposed improvement in areas such as leadership awareness, access to data, climate risk regulation, climate risk management, and green finance.
The launch drew together representatives of the African Development Bank, the Global Centre on Adaptation, financial institutions, and country representatives. AFAC called for feedback from the stakeholders on a new strategy.
“The suggested changes should be made fast and returned for approval. We need speed to act. We do not have time,” said IFRS Sustainability Board member Dr. Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien. IFRS is a not-for-profit, public interest organization working to develop high-quality, enforceable, and globally accepted accounting and sustainability disclosure standards
The strategy also identified three critical challenges that need to be overcome: a lack of available data to assess financial risk, inadequate internal capacity at national central banks to create a level playing field for the private and public sectors, and the need to regularize and harmonize with international standards and practices.
Kevin Kariuki, African Development Bank Vice President of Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, noted that climate finance has been largely public sector-oriented. “There are enough calls to mobilize these finances through the private sector. AFAC is a channel that can mobilize climate finance from the private sector once these changes are finalized,” he added.
COP27, widely referred to as the African COP, ran from 6-18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
About African Financial Alliance on Climate Change
The African Financial Alliance on Climate Change aims to put the financial sector at the center of climate action in Africa. It brings together Africa’s key financial institutions, including central banks, insurance companies, sovereign wealth and pension funds, stock exchanges, as well as commercial and development banks, to mobilize private capital flows towards continent-wide low-carbon and climate-resilient development.
AFAC will promote climate action through knowledge sharing, climate risk-mitigating financial instruments, climate risk disclosure, and climate finance flows.
Source: afdb.org
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Tanzania: Samia Hands Over NBC’s 354m/ – Crop Insurance Compensation to Farmers Affected By Hailstorms
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, has handed over a cheque of 354m/- from the National Bank of Commerce (NBC) as compensation to tobacco farmers, who were affected by hailstorms during the previous farming season in various regions across the country.
Handing over the cheque in Dodoma, the compensation is part of the crop insurance service provided by NBC in collaboration with the National Insurance Corporation (NIC).
Furthermore, President Samia has also handed over health insurance coverage to members of the Lindi Mwambao Cooperative Union based in Lindi Region, through the Farmers’ Health Insurance service provided by the bank in partnership with Assurance Insurance Company.
While visiting the bank’s pavilion at the Nanenane Agricultural Exhibition and being received and briefed by the bank’s Managing Director, Mr. Theobald Sabi, she said: “This crop insurance is one of the crucial solutions in ensuring farmers have a reliable income, without fear of challenges such as natural disasters, including hailstorms.
“I call upon all farmers in the country to make the best use of this important opportunity by accessing these kinds of insurance services. I also highly commend NBC and all the stakeholders participating in this programme.”
Elaborating further on the crop insurance service, the Minister of Agriculture, Hussein Bashe, stated that it will help to recover the loss farmers incurred, especially in various calamities beyond their control.
Citing them as floods, fires, and hailstorms, which have significantly affected the well-being of farmers and caused some to be reluctant to invest in the crucial sector, Mr Bashe added: “However, our President, this step by NBC is just the beginning, as this is the second year since they started offering this service, and the results are already visible.
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“As the government, we promise to continue supporting the wider implementation of this service, with the goal of ensuring that this crop insurance service reaches more farmers.”
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On his part, Mr Sabi said that the farmers who benefited from the compensations are from 23 primary cooperative unions in the regions of Shinyanga, Geita, Tabora, Mbeya, Katavi, and Kigoma.
He added: “In addition to these insurance services, as a bank, through this exhibition, we have continued with our programme of providing financial education and various banking opportunities to farmers, alongside offering them various loans, including loans for agricultural equipment, particularly tractors, to eligible farmers.:
At the NBC booth, President Samia also had the opportunity to be briefed on the various services offered by the bank to the farmers namely crop insurance and health insurance services.
There, the President had the chance to speak with some of the beneficiaries of the services, including the Vice-Chairman of the Lindi Mwambao Primary Cooperative Union, Mr. Hassan Mnumbe, whose union has been provided with a health insurance card from the bank.
Source: allafrica.com
