The African Development Bank (AfDB) has just launched a training of trainers’ programme for the development of projects eligible for funding from the United Nations (UN) Green Climate Fund (GCF). The training involves 80 participants from across the African continent.
The aim of the new training programme launched by the African Development Bank (AfDB) is to strengthen the skills of 80 government institutions, civil society organisations and universities in Africa. Participants in this programme will then be responsible for passing on their knowledge to potential beneficiaries of the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
“Following an independent and thorough selection process, 80 participants have been selected, including about 40 from Anglophone countries and 40 from Francophone and Lusophone countries,” says the AfDB. The online training will last 120 hours. A period during which participants will acquire knowledge through the AfDB’s Climate Change and Green Growth Department.
As part of this initiative to increase the GCF’s climate financing in Africa tenfold, the pan-African financial institution is receiving support from the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Trust Fund, which is financing the work. According to the AfDB, the training programme builds on its work with the GCF and other partners “to help the Bank’s regional member countries directly access the resources of the Green Climate Fund”.
Barriers to accessing GCF funding
Launched by the United Nations (UN) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the aim of the Green Climate Fund is to transfer funds from the most advanced countries to the most vulnerable countries. These investments should enable them to set up projects to combat the effects of climate change or to adapt to climate change.
But in Africa, access to this source of climate finance faces a major challenge, including “the complexity of designing climate change projects to meet funding criteria. This training will build the capacity of African authorities, governments and nationally determined African consultants by training trainers to facilitate future training courses,” says Gareth Phillips, the Director of the Environment and Climate Finance Division in the AfDB’s Climate Change and Green Growth Department.
Through its training programme, the development finance institution hopes to reduce these barriers to make African countries more eligible for GCF funding.
Jean Marie Takouleu
