By Enyichukwu Enemanna
African Development Bank, (AfDB) has listed Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and South Africa, as seven pilot countries to access its $1 million technical assistance grant to the Green Mobility Facility for Africa (GMFA).
The programme which is under its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), will provide technical assistance and investment capital to accelerate and expand private sector investments in sustainable transport solutions in the pilot countries, the bank announced in a statement on its website.
According to the bank, the SEFA grant will support the creation of an enabling environment for Electric vehicles (EVs), the design of EV business models and guidelines for the public and private sector.
It will also support the development of a bankable pipeline of e-mobility projects, regional coordination, and knowledge sharing amongst other upstream activities to help catalyse follow-up on private sector financing during the subsequent investment phase of the GMFA.
“Mobility is a fundamental lifeline that connects people to critical services, jobs, education, and opportunities,” said Nnenna Nwabufo the Director-General of the Bank’s East Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office.
She added, “The African Development Bank is committed to building a sustainable and more climate-resilient future by catalysing private investment in low-carbon solutions.
“We believe GMFA will have a tremendous impact on the African market by accelerating the shift to green mobility, reducing over 2,175,000 carbon dioxide equivalent tons of greenhouse gas emissions and facilitating the creation of 19,000 full-time jobs.”
Also, the Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Development Board, which is one of the pilot countries, Clare Akamanzi said, “Future demand for mobility solutions and vehicle ownership is expected to increase with rapid urbanisation, population growth, and economic development.
“We are delighted to receive this support from AfDB. We see this as a vote of confidence in our efforts to shift to e-mobility solutions and advance Rwanda’s transition to a low-carbon economy.”
AfDB says SEFA is a multi-donor Special Fund that provides catalytic finance to unlock private sector investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
According to the bank, SEFA offers technical assistance and concessional finance instruments to remove market barriers, build a more robust pipeline of projects and improve the risk-return profile of individual investments.
