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Martin Kadzere
Senior Business Reporter
A study published recently by the African Development Bank (AfDB) on the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in Africa recommends that development financial institutions and private investors focus on high-impact and high-growth potential start-ups that can drive climate-related innovations.

Under the Paris accord agreed in 2015, nearly 200 countries pledged to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, and strive for a ceiling of 1,5 degrees Celsius by 2030.

The NDCs are climate action plans or commitments by signatories to the Paris Accord to cut planet-warming emissions over the next decade.

Zimbabwe, a signatory to the Paris climate change accord has submitted a conditional 33 percent energy sector per capita greenhouse gas emission reduction target.

The submission was conditional on the means of implementation namely technology development and transfer, relevant training and financial support.

Zimbabwe needs about US$90 billion to meet its climate goals. Of this, US$55 billion is targeted at clean energy. Studies have shown that Zimbabwe is emitting an estimated 26 000 giga grammes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to 0,05 of the global emissions.

The AfDB study, “NDC implementation in Africa through green investments by private sector — A Scoping Study”, was produced in partnership with the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance and launched during a virtual African Development Bank webinar held on July 1, 2021.

It says the governments and development institutions must engage the private sector in efforts to develop the green economy and meet Africa’s commitments under the Nationally Determined Contributions of the Paris Agreement of Climate Change

According to the study, climate action offers profitable opportunities for the private sector but will also help protect those investments from its impacts.

It says governments should be encouraged to see the private sector as a critical partner for climate action and create the enabling policy and regulatory environments that provide private sector innovation, it says.

“The African Development Bank has pledged to mobilise US$25 billion towards climate action on the continent by 2025.

“The NDCs developed by African countries as part of the Paris Agreement will require an estimated US$3 trillion of investment by 2030, of which at least 75 percent is expected to come from the private sector, which has a crucial role to play,” said Al Hamndou Dorsouma, the bank’s acting director of climate change and green growth.

The study identifies opportunities and pathways for private sector participation in NDC implementation in Africa with a focus on five pilot countries, for which studies were also produced. These are Egypt, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria and South Africa.

According to the main Africa-wide study, only five African countries have carefully considered the role of the private sector in their NDCs: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Morocco, Niger and South Africa. Private- sector participation in African NDCs needs to be strengthened, said Dorsouma.

The African Development Bank has a number of initiatives to support the achievement of national NDCS. Last year, it launched the Private Sector Investment Initiative for African NDCs.

The initiative aims to build the capacity of African businesses to mainstream climate change into their business operations and identify opportunities that advance NDC goals.

The bank provides knowledge products and climate change tools to support this.

Under the initiative, the bank has trained SMEs and financial institutions from six countries on strategies to identify climate risks and opportunities in their businesses and estimate the impact of their business activities on greenhouse gas emissions.