Nairobi- The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is working to mobilise funding for initiatives that promote African food security and sustainable water supplies, its president Benedict Omarah, has said.
Specific proposals and initiatives led by the Bank, of which Angola is a member, includes a collaboration with Africa Risk Capacity (ARC) to create a product that protects African economies against food security arising from climate-induced disasters.
According to Benedict Omarah, the Bank finances the premiums and provides food imports finance, while ARC provides the insurance capacity.
In his opening speech at the African Climate Summit on the theme "New Climate Finance Architecture"Oramah Benedict added that, with funding of just 1 billion US dollars, this product is grossly underfunded, adding that there is scope for the World Bank and capital-rich economies to step in by providing capital for this fund.
Secondly, he said, a global carbon tax, which many countries have advocated, could also become an important source of liquidity for the climate insurance programme.
In addition, he assured that Afreximbank is increasing its support for its member states in navigating an already precarious climate landscape.
“The problem hasn’t been the deficit of ideas but the lack of action on the part of almost all stakeholders”, Mr.Benedit said, further stating that “we must call on developed economies to honour their commitments to developing nations towards climate finance”.
He added that in the absence of firm global action, Africa is implementing concrete actions and putting forward pragmatic proposals to mobilise global resources to deal with the challenges of climate change.
Through investments in the continent's infrastructure to lay the foundations for a low-carbon transition, as well as championing Africa's specific energy needs, the Bank is rallying support for the development of Africa's natural gas and power reserves, which can in turn accelerate the realisation of the continent’s renewable energy potential.
Afreximbank's participation in the Summit follows the Banks' concentrated involvement in COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh in 2022, as well as the signing of a three billion dollar Country Programme between Afreximbank and the Government of Kenya on May 3, 2023.
As part of the programme, the Government of Kenya was the first to access Afreximbank's recently introduced Climate Change Adaptation Facility.
The Bank has financed solar power plant projects, support for Africa's entry into global carbon markets and the creation of an African Energy Bank to guarantee continental energy security and sustainability.
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade.
For 30 years, the Bank has been implementing innovative structures to provide financing solutions that support the transformation of Africa's trade structure, accelerating industrialisation and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa.
A supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) which was adopted by the African Union (AU) as a payment and settlement platform to support the implementation of the AfCFTA.
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