Africa Monitor

French Minister Ségolène Royal said recently that the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) must be put into action

The Continent

Africa: French Minister for a transformational strategic partnership with Africa

During a on a 48-hour working visit to Côte d’Ivoire, the French Minister of the Environment, Energy and the Sea, Ségolène Royal, met with Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, on February 26 at the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan. They discussed cooperation between the pan-African financial institution and her country, France.

The visit of the French Minister, who has just taken on the role of presidency of COP21 and who is conducting a tour of Africa, also coincides with preparations for the first meeting for the 14th replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF), ADF-14, to be held on March 17 and 18 in Abidjan, the economic capital of Côte d’Ivoire.

Discussions between Adesina and his guest were around implementation of the commitments made at COP21. “I am pleased that the opinion of Africans was taken into account at COP21,” said Adesina. “We must now put this ambitious initiative, the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), into action.” Royal stressed that her African tour was crucial for quickening the pace of the COP21 project and AREI. “France is listening to the AfDB.” The Minister said that it was crucial to put the financial engineering in place that is needed to rapidly and concretely translate what was said at COP21 into action.

France is a key partner for the AfDB. It is the fourth-biggest contributor to ADF-13, with a subscription equal to € 420 million (a 5% increase in comparison with ADF-12). What is more, France, through the French Development Agency (AFD), signed a co-financing agreement with the AfDB in November 2015. This agreement aims to mobilise € 1.5 billion over 3 years, and is set to be a powerful lever for increasing the development of access to energy and fighting climate change.

Source: African Development Bank Group, 26 February 2016

Africa has the biggest reservoir of green growth

The Economic Commission for Africa (Office for North Africa) launched on 1st March in Rabat its 31st Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) under the theme: “Green economy to speed up industrialization in North Africa”. During four days, more than 150 delegates, experts, academics, private sector and civil society representatives from across the region will examine North Africa’s evolution on the macro-economic and social level and will make recommendations to achieve a more environmentally sustainable industrialization.

“Two things must be combined to achieve continued and inclusive development: infrastructure development and the deepening of the integration process. I believe that these two conditions will enable Africa, and the Maghreb, not only to emerge but also to reduce their dependency to traditional markets and the kind of goods they have been exporting until now”, said Arab Maghreb Union Secretary General Habib Ben Yahia.