By Akanimo Sampson
FSD Africa has perfected a Co-operation Agreement with the Committee of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) stock Exchanges (CoSSE) to support the development of a green bond market in the SADC region.
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SADC is however a regional economic community comprising 16 member states: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The agreement will support the SADC’s 16 member countries to leverage domestic and international capital markets for investment in green projects.
The FSD Africa-CoSSE partnership programme will support member countries and both private and public sectors to issue green bonds, creating a favourable ecosystem and improving knowledge and capacity for sustainable investments.
The programme will also help SADC countries to develop listing guidelines and regulations for green bonds, build a pipeline of potential green bonds issuers, tap the countries’ institutional investment community for investment into green bonds, train stakeholders on climate finance and support the adoption of climate-related financial reporting and disclosure
James Duddridge, UK Minister for Africa, said: “Climate change is the most important challenge facing future generations and ahead of COP26, our partnerships with African nations are building resilience and driving clean growth. This landmark agreement will increase access to green finance, create jobs and help support a sustainable recovery from COVID-19 to deliver for those on the forefront of the climate crisis and our planet”.
Mark Napier, CEO, FSD Africa, said: “In recent years SADC countries have experienced extreme climate-related challenges including drought and cyclones. Green bonds can be an excellent way to channel SADC significant capital resources into job-creating projects that can help pivot the region towards a low-carbon economy and protect it from environmental shocks”
