The International Finance Corp (IFC) announced it will provide credit of up to $150 million to Johannesburg-based lender Absa Bank to finance renewable energy and climate change-related projects it what it labeled “Africa’s first certified green loan.” This complies with the green loan principles stipulated by London-based lending-market membership body the Loan Market Association, will finance biomass and other renewable energy projects in South Africa. Africa’s green transition requires considerable mobilization of funds.
The agreement bolsters funding available for green projects and strengthens Absa’s position as a leader in financing renewable projects in South Africa. News came just a day after the IFC would help the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Ghana draw up guidelines for the issue of green bonds. The IFC had issued roughly 170 green bonds, worth more than $10 billion, in 20 currencies. The Ghana initiative is part of the multilateral lender’s green bond market development program, which is backed by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and the government of Luxembourg.