Green Finance and DFIs in SADC

CEOs and senior officials from different DFIs, governments, financial institutions, the private sector and other development finance stakeholders met in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe on the 6th June 2019 for the 18th biannual SADC DFI CEOs’ Forum. The forum focused on “Green Finance and Development Finance Institutions in SADC”.

 

This is a topic that has been gaining prominence for a while now, particularly as it speaks to issues of ameliorating the negative effects of climate change on the global environment and our region has not been an exception regarding these effects. Cognisant of the critical role of green finance, broadly defined to incorporate climate finance, the main objective of this CEOs Forum was to allow DFIs the opportunity for self – assessment as to their role and the extent to which, individually or under the auspices of their governments, they have actively adopted and implemented green finance in their operations.

 

The Forum, therefore, presented a platform to share knowledge and exchange experiences on green finance with a view to highlight the nature of projects or sectors DFIs are involved in; the sources of finance available or mobilised locally and globally; what policy frameworks and institutional structures, including guaranteeing facilities, governments and international finance institutions have put in place to promote participation in green projects. Only a limited number of our members have actively and deliberately pursued green finance in their operations. 

 

Thus, besides assessing themselves as to the extent of their involvement in this area, at the close of the Forum, DFIs had a good sense of the degree of their involvement and available opportunities to actively contribute to greening their economies, as well as the various forms of finance available and the conditionality associated with accessing global funds for this purpose.

 

The Forum was officially opened by Dr. Kupukile Mlambo, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and