The African Development Bank(AfDB) Group has announced that it will invest $15 million more in the Trade and Development Bank Group’s special Green+ shares.
These AfDB shares will help finance clean technology and projects that reduce carbon emissions in member countries.
The money for this investment comes from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF). It will also help set up a facility to prepare projects that use clean technology.
While giving his remarks, Admassu Tadesse, TDB Group President and Managing Director, stated,
“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.
Moreover, it has catalyzed this investment, which endeavors to bring about impact and attractive financial returns.”
The CTF provides money to developing countries to use low-carbon technologies that can cut greenhouse gas emissions in the long run.
TDB introduced these special shares last year during COP27. The African Development Bank had initially invested $15 million.
These shares allow TDB to gather more funds to support projects that help fight climate change and achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Dr. Kevin Kariuki, from the African Development Bank, praised TDB for its innovative shares. He 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.
“Their aim is 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.
“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.
“This is because many projects fail at feasibility and business-planning stages.
“In this regard, we also look forward to CTF’s technical assistance to unlock new project opportunities in our region and scale-up our impact in the climate space.”
TDB’s Green+ shares aim to attract various impact investors, building on the success of their previous shares launched ten years ago.
These investors include pension funds, insurance companies, and others interested in making a positive impact.