After the World Bank, it is now the turn of the African Development Bank (AfDB) to announce budget support for South Africa as part of its Energy Governance and Climate Resilience Programme. The pan-African bank is granting a loan of $300 million to implement this government initiative.
According to the AfDB, the one-year programme will promote economic growth “by pursuing structural reforms aimed at restoring energy security, promoting private sector participation in the electricity market and improving the operational efficiency of state-owned utility Eskom, in line with South Africa’s Energy Action Plan and the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan 2023-2027”.
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Launched in response to the country’s energy crisis, the programme also aims to accelerate mitigation and adaptation efforts by encouraging the production of renewable energy and directing businesses towards low-carbon activities, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of the South African economy and improving the financing of green projects. According to Pretoria, these deliverables are in line with South Africa’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and the country’s long-term low-carbon development strategy.
The AfDB loan is accompanied by a $629,800 grant co-financed by the Climate Insurance Fund “to ensure that affected communities are not left behind, to integrate more women into the decision-making process and to help young entrepreneurs, particularly women, to acquire skills and create jobs in the green economy”, says the pan-African financial institution based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
In addition to the AfDB, the South African government’s Energy Governance and Climate Resilience Programme is funded by the World Bank ($1 billion), Germany ($551 million) and Canada ($91 million).
Jean Marie Takouleu