AfDB deploys clean technologies to cut carbon emissions in Africa

The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has announced a follow-up equity investment of $15 million in the Trade and Development Bank Group’s (TDB Group) pioneering Class C Green+ shares to support clean technology and low carbon projects in its member states.

The new capital, to be sourced from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) (https://apo-opa.co/3w18UWD), will also support the establishment of a project preparation facility to boost investment in clean technologies.

The CTF, part of the Climate Investment Funds, provides resources to developing countries to scale up low-carbon technologies with significant potential for long-term greenhouse gas emissions savings.
TDB launched the unique thematic equity instruments just over a year ago during COP27; the African Development Bank greeted the announcement with an initial investment of $15 million. Class C Green+ shares enable TDB Group to leverage funds four times to support qualifying climate and SDG-aligned public and private sector transactions.These investments will support TDB Group’s efforts to advance climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in its member states, driving considerable long-term greenhouse gas emissions savings.Admassu Tadesse, TDB Group President and Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to receive this investment into our risk capital by CTF through our strategic partner, the African Development Bank. The new equity supports TDB’s green growth and climate action agenda and our drive to assist member states to achieve their Nationally Determined Contributions.We value the African Development Bank’s pioneering role, which has generated much interest from other investors and catalyzed this investment, which endeavors to bring about impact and attractive financial returns.”

Dr. Kevin Kariuki, the African Development Bank’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, said: “We congratulate TDB for this highly innovative class of shares with all capital raised through strategic partners like the African Development Bank and CTF, to exclusively support climate action and sustainable development.”

“This structure has a high replicability potential as it optimizes the use of limited concessional funding and contributes to leveraging substantial resources from the private sector,” Kariuki added.  “We hope that the involvement of CTF will be instrumental in crowding-in the participation of additional investors into this class of shares and praise the establishment of the Project Preparation Facility unlocked by this investment.”

Mary Kamari, TDB Group Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations Executive added: “While much more capital is needed to support climate action in Africa, we are also facing constraints in the availability of bankable projects, with many projects failing at feasibility and business-planning stages. In this regard, we also look forward to CTF’s technical assistance support to unlock new project opportunities in our region and scale-up our impact in the climate space.”

TDB’s Class C Green+ shares build on the success of Class B shares launched a decade ago to attract institutional investors – pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions, and others – into TDB’s equity capital. They are open to investment by a broad range of impact investors.