Initiative Climat pour le développement de l’Afrique (ClimDev-Afrique)

Date of agreement: December 2, 2009
Current volume of the fund: US$ 136 million for 2010-2012
Financial contributors: TBC

Background and Objectives

The Climate for Development in African Programme (ClimDev-Africa) is a joint initiative of the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the AfDB. The ClimDev-Africa programme has been under development since April 2006. The programme responds to the urgent challenge that climate change poses to the achievement of Africa‟s development objectives.

It seeks to overcome the lack of necessary information, analysis, and options required by policy and decision makers at all levels.

In supporting the implementation of the program, the Bank has recently taken two main initiatives, the first one is the approval of a project support to four climate regional centers in Africa which are ACMAD, ICPAC and DMC, the second initiative is the establishment of the ClimDev-Africa Special Fund (CDSF).

The objective of the Fund is to contribute to an overall sustainable development and poverty reduction in Africa. The Fund will implement programs that strengthen national and sub-regional institutional capacities to overcome the lack of necessary climate information, analysis and options required by policy and decision makers at all levels within the context of threats of climate change.

Areas of Focus / Sub-Sectors

The ClimDev-Africa Programme Special Fund (CDSF) supports operations in the following three main areas:

Generation and wide dissemination of reliable and high quality information on climatic situation in Africa.
Capacity enhancement of policy makers and policy support institutions to integrate information on climate change into development programs.
Implementation of pilot adaptation practices that demonstrate the value of mainstreaming climate information into development.

Target Beneficiaries

RMCs and national and regional climate institutions in Africa.
Results and Milestones

The Fund is not yet operational.

Administration and Governance Structure

ClimDev-Africa Programme CDSF will be administered and governed, according to Bank‟s procedures, in partnership with the African Union and the UNECA. Even though, the Fund is approved by the Board of Directors, it is subject to the ratification of the Board of Governors, upon which a Governing Council shall be created to provide technical oversight of the CDSF. The CDSF will be continually replenished to support long term adaptation to climate change.

Major Activities in 2011-12 / Additional Resources Required

Formulated to be implemented in two phases, the first phase has an indicative budget of about US$ 136 million for 2010-2012 while activities for the second phase until 2020 are estimated to cost about US$ 800 million. CDSF will involve the mobilisation and sensitisation of development partners and donors, as well as Regional Members Countries. DFID has already pledged £10 million to support ClimDev-Africa Fund. Other AfDB bilateral donor countries, including Denmark, Norway and Sweden, have also expressed interest in financially assisting the CDSF.

Experiences, Challenges, and Ways Forward

The CDSF will benefit from the experience of existing funds within the Bank, such as Some of the Africa Water Facility (AWF), the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility, the Special Fund for the Reconstruction and Development of the Great Lakes Region, the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI) and the Congo Basin Forests Fund (CBFF) which also contribute to sustainable growth in Africa.

The CDSF constitutes an important opportunity to accelerate investments on climate resilience in Africa, and to develop the capacity of our Regional Member Countries on mainstreaming climate information in decision making processes.

Technical Department and Task Manager
Anthony Okon Nyong, Division Manager, Compliance and Safeguards division, Results & Quality Assurance Department , Tel: (216) 7110 2768

Partnerships and Cooperation Unit Focal Point
Khadidida Diabi, Principal Cooperation Officer, Tel: (216) 7110 3002