Africa investor (Ai) Group announced six COP27, investor-led initiatives today, during its NDC Investment Summit and Awards, co-hosted with The African Union Development Agency (AUDA), The Continental Business Network (CBN), The NDC Partnership, The African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB), The ICC, and the IEA at COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh.
The Ai NDC Investment Summit and Awards were graced by the participation of leading African dignitaries, Heads of State, Ministers, and global institutional investment leaders, representing over $60 trillion of assets under management.
The Summit and awards opening and keynote speakers included Dr. Hubert Danso, Chairman of Africa investor (Ai) Group; H.E. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, AUDA-NEPAD, The RT. Hon. Raila Odinga, African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa; H.E. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia, Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland, Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and UN SRSG for Sustainable Energy for All, Co-Chair of UN-Energy, Pablo Vieira, Global Director, The NDC Partnership and Marie Lam-Frendo, CEO, Global Infrastructure Hub.
The African NDC Investment Summit & Awards showcased an array of innovative institutional investor-public partnerships (IIPPs) and bankable ecosystem-wide, Just Transition investment models, to mobilize private capital at scale and deploy that capital at speed for Africa’s $3trn of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) projects and green infrastructure investment assets seeking capital.
The Summit launched six investor-led initiatives, called for, or announced at COP 26, to de-risk and accelerate private capital mobilization for African NDC and green infrastructure investment opportunities.
The African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB) led and coordinated a COP27 Institutional Investor Consultative Coordination Committee with the African Union, to identify and prioritize, investor-led, private capital mobilization, Scope 3, critical minerals, carbon markets, and Just Transition investment Initiatives, and present them at COP27.
The overarching goal at the heart of the consultative process was to share insights and design and deliver greater public-private finance mandate alignment, and more catalytic private investment pathways, that fast track and scale private capitals’ participation in the continent’s green transition, implemented through Institutional Investor-Public Partnerships (IIPP’s).
Six COP27 private capital mobilization initiatives and investor tools announced:
- Ai, DLA Piper, the African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the CFA Asset Owners Council, formally launched the Institutional Investor-Public Partnerships Model Law (IIPP),
- Ai and Deloitte launched a call to action roadmap report, for MDB Shareholders to catalyze more climate finance for African NDCs and climate investments.
- Africa investor (Ai) and partners launched the Just Transition Investors Alliance (JTIA), an investor-led platform, for green technology and energy customers seeking to procure finished green goods from African Just Transition Green Economic Zones, predominantly located in places dependent on mining and highly carbon-intensive industries.
- Ai and Frost & Sullivan Africa, announced a bankable projects pipeline tracker, profiling hundreds of investment-ready African infrastructure projects in the pipeline.
- Ai and DECARD launched Climate Capital Technologies, their digital carbon credit capital mobilization and project development Web3.0 platform; and
- Africa investor (Ai), announced its collaboration with Tahuti Global, on a critical minerals investor briefing, entitled ‘Climate Financing in Africa – A Solution for The Global Critical Minerals Shortage and Regional Sustainable Development’.
Dr. Hubert Danso, Chairman of Africa investor (Ai) Group and Chairman of the NDC Investment Awards Adjudication panel, said: “It was a pleasure to host this pivotal institutional NDC investment Summit, given its well accepted by governments, MDBs, DFI’s and civil society, there is no single pathway to NetZero, without the exponential increase of the participation of institutional capital at scale, that can be deployed at speed, especially in Africa and emerging markets.” He went on to say “We still believe climate change is one of the greatest investment opportunities of our generation and are confident, the innovative investor-led private capital mobilization initiatives announced today, will be invaluable assets and tools for the COP27 Presidency, as they work to mobilize domestic and global pools of private capital at scale, particularly for Africa and emerging markets”.
The Summit also hosted the inaugural Ai African NDC Investment Awards, in collaboration with The African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank and The NDC Partnership, designed to inspire speedy implementation and greater ambition across all NDCs. The NDC Award winners were announced during the Summit’s NDC Awards ceremony.
Ai NDC Investment Summit speakers included:
- John Denton, Secretary General, ICC,
- Halla Tomasdottir, CEO, The B Team,
- Jingdong Hua, Vice Chair, International Sustainability Standards Board,
- Christophe McGlade, Head of Energy Supply Unit, IEA,
- Dr. Frannie Leautier, Chair, G20 Panel, Reviewing MDBs’ Capital Adequacy Frameworks and CEO of SouthBridge Investments;
- Marc-Andre Blanchard, Chair, Investor Leadership Network (ILN)/ SMI Blended Finance Task Force and Executive Vice-President and Head of CDPQ Global;
- Faith Ward, Chair, The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) and Chief Responsible Investment Officer, Brunel Pension Partnership;
- Peter Damgaard Jensen, Co-Chair, The Climate Investment Coalition (CIC);
- Dr. Sharon Fitzgerald, Partner, DLA Piper,
- Hans-Juergen Walter, Global Sustainable Finance Leader, Deloitte,
- Hendrik Malan, CEO, Frost & Sullivan Africa,
- This Simonsen. CEO, DECARD and
- Hubert Ruzibiza, Senior Advisor, Climate Finance and Technical Assistance, African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB).
Dr. Danso concluded by calling for more institutional investor-public-partnerships to close the multi-trillion dollar climate investment gap (link to model law release) and called on The COP28 Presidency and UNFCCC, to include a dedicated Investor Day in the COP28 agenda (and as a permanent COP Agenda feature), to ensure the deeper and more strategic enlistment of the global institutional investment community, representing $200 trillion of private capital, to definitively assist close the climate investment gap, Dr. Danso also called on colleagues in the global institutional investment community, to continue to provide leadership, raise ambition and act with speed, not only in decarbonizing portfolio’s but ensuring that those decarbonized portfolio’s, green the real economy in Africa and emerging markets and to showcase success at COP28 – hopefully at the first formally UNFCCC endorsed, COP28 constituted – COP Investor Day”.
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