CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, has announced plans to invest over Ksh. 455 billion (£3 billion) to support emerging economies in Africa and Asia. The investment aims to counter the effects of climate emergency.
The commitment, made at COP26 in Glasgow, will make CDC one of the world’s largest climate finance investors in Africa and select South Asian markets. The announcement contributes to the Clean Green Initiative to help developing countries take advantage of green technology and grow their economies sustainably.
The investment of climate finance from CDC will be invested over the next five years across a number of different sectors, such as renewable power, infrastructure and agriculture, including forestry. It will be deployed to support emerging economies to meet their Paris Agreement goals, and to adapt and become more resilient to the impacts of the climate emergency that are already being felt.
CDC expects power generated from is rapidly expanding portfolio of renewable power investments to double in size over the next five years. The proportion of electricity generated by renewables across CDC’s entire energy portfolio will grow from 32% to about 70% over the same period, as new investments come online.
CDC will also increase venture capital investment in early stage, technology-based businesses that have the potential to play vital roles in the fight against climate change.
The first beneficiary of the new fund is Pula, a Kenya based agritech business. The purpose of the capital is to pilot a new Pay-at-Harvest insurance product, something which is virtually untested in Africa but has the potential to significantly increase smallholder uptake of insurance, delivering both development and climate impacts.
Nick O’Donohoe, Chief Executive of CDC said, “The financial commitment announced today will mean that CDC will become a global leader in climate finance in Africa and South Asia. COP is about making specific commitments to act, and this is demonstrated by a doubling of our financial support to those countries most vulnerable to the ravages of the climate emergency.”