How can local governments in Sub-Saharan Africa facilitate access to finance?

How can Local Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa facilitate access to finance?

The urban population of Africa will rise from a current population of 650 million to a population exceeding 1.3 billion by 2050. Local Governments (LGs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are faced with the daunting challenge of manag­ing the highest urban growth rate in the world, while simultaneously confronting the devastating impacts of cli­mate change cutting across local communities and the economy.

Large investment budgets are needed for low-carbon and climate-resilient investments in key urban infrastructure sectors to meet the objectives set in the Paris Agreement. These investments range from large-scale infrastructure projects to small investments in different sectors. Access to finance from international, private as well as public sources is key to delivering resilient, climate-safe cities and embark on low carbon growth pathways.

Under the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa initiative, GIZ aims to provide LGs in SSA with practical roadmaps of action steps that they can proactively undertake to facilitate the financing and implementation of climate projects.

To this end, a study, with the objective of empowering local governments to accelerate the development and finance of Climate Projects, has been released.

Titled “Finance Roadmaps for Climate Projects: How can Local Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa facilitate access to finance?”, it provides an overview of financing roadmaps for LGs, with an introduc­tion to key concepts and roadmaps for different project types. Concrete roadmaps highlighting the possible proactive roles of LGs are defined for ten specific climate actions, covering each stage of the project lifecycle from project identification to project development, finance, and operation.

Climate projects for local governments covered in the publication:

The study was published in October 2020. Click here to download it. Click here to download a summary of the study.

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Study published by: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

Authors: Global Clearinghouse for Development Finance.

Produced with the financial support of the European Union and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Contact: comssa@giz.de