By Cynthia Ezekwe.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITTI) have signed a joint technical assistance agreement to enable the scale up of investment in low-carbon and climate-resilient technologies, to support climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts in many African countries.
The two parties recently signed the pact, on the sidelines of the 7th Korea-Africa Ministerial Conference on Economic Cooperation, held in Busan, Korea’s second largest city.
Through this partnership, Korea will share technology, experience, and knowledge with the bank’s African member countries, and assist them to identify and develop eco-friendly projects.
Africa is home to nine of the 10 most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. While it accounts for only 4 per cent of global carbon emissions, Africa remains the most vulnerable continent to the adverse effects of climate change.
Recently, the African Development Bank’s African Economic Outlook 2022 estimated that climate change threatens to undermine Africa’s economic performance, reducing Gross Domestic product (GDP) by up to 15 per cent by 2050.
Based on the worrisome figures, AfDB has expressed its commitment to support climate-resilient and low-carbon development in Africa, through investments that support the achievement of the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Commenting on the agreement, Kevin Kariuki, the AfDB vice president for power, energy, climate change and green growth, who signed the agreement, noted that the agreement would deploy climate change technologies to many African countries, adding that the priority areas within the agreement were in line with the 2023 KOAFEC Ministerial Conference, which focused on agriculture and energy.
“The transformation of these sectors to ensure energy and food security is crucial for Africa’s sustainable development and requires significant investment in technology development, increased financial flows and strategic partnerships,” he said.
He added that the AfDB will mobilise its full arsenal of instruments to provide technical assistance, project preparation support, concessional finance and risk mitigation to address the challenges of climate change and ensure a just energy transition.
Kariuki implored global partners to work with the African Development Bank to support transformative climate change adaptation and mitigation actions in Africa.
On his part, Lee Woo-Weon,vice President of the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute, welcomed the cooperation with the African Development Bank on projects through joint technical assistance, reiterating that KEITI will support project preparation for environmental projects in water, energy, climate change, circular economy and environment.
