African States change tactics to mobilize climate finance

The National Treasury will serve as interim chair and host a Secretariat of the newly-formed Africa Ministers of Finance Consultative Group.

The decision was arrived at during an inaugural meeting in Nairobi on the sidelines of the recently concluded African Development Bank Annual Conference held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC).

In a high-level roundtable engagement chaired by Kenya’s Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof. Njuguna Ndung'u on May 29, 2024, the African finance ministers agreed to forge ahead a climate finance mobilization drive as a continent to instil confidence in countries dealing with climate catastrophes as well as arm the continent to be climate resilient.

The responsibility of Kenya spearheading the Africa Green Finance drive came on the backdrop of leading the continent in established structures for National Green Funds.

The Financing Locally Lead Climate Action (FLLoCA) programme focuses on taking money to the grassroots for the local people to decide on the climate actions which suit their specific geographical areas based on indigenous knowledge.

FLLoCCA is one such programme under Kenya’s National Treasury which different countries have been streaming in to learn its working insights.

The Africa Ministers of Finance Consultative Group will now spearhead the enhanced global mobilization of climate finance for the continent.

This even as Rwanda was tasked with hosting the next meeting which is meant to come up with operational modalities of the Group, with ⁠thematic areas set to be affirmed during the Kigali function.

The formation of the Africa Ministers of Finance Consultative Group is timely as it comes at a time when most African countries have been blamed for missing out on Green Funding due to lack of workable policy frameworks to handle green finances.

At the sidelines of the 54th AfDB annual meeting, it emerged that the African continent is currently facing an annual funding gap of upto $213.4M, an equivalent Ksh.28.2 billion.

The first ever round table meeting for African ministers of finance on enhanced mobilization of climate finance was graced by Minsters of Development Cooperation, Minister for Taxation and the Deputy Minister of International Affairs from Denmark.

Finance ministers from Egypt, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Rwanda, among other countries were present.