Skip to main content
Image
media

AAAP in the Media

Displaying 1 - 10 of 10

Can today’s Adaptation Action minimize future losses and damages in Africa?

Submitted by admin on
Countries
Regions
Body

On the sidelines of the 2022 edition of Africa Climate Week(link is external), a session titled Limiting Loss and Damage through Enhanced Adaptation Action in Africa featured vibrant and timely discussion of an aspect of climate change that typically receives little attention: capturing and assessing the costs and damages associated with climate change.   

The African Development Bank and Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation hosted the event, which provided a forum for panelists and participants to discuss the importance of defining and evaluating such losses and damages of properties, economies, lives and livelihoods due to climate disasters. Africa is acknowledged to be the continent most vulnerable to climate change.

Moderator Olufunso Somorin, a Regional Principal Officer at the African Development Bank, opened the discussion. He pointed out that it is important for African countries to measure climate-change related loss and damage to enable appropriate quantification and well-designed responses best suited to country context. It was also important to capture those losses occurred even in instances where preventive climate adaptation actions had been taken, he added.

Fatten Agad, Africa Climate Foundation’s Senior Advisor on Climate Diplomacy and Geopolitics, called for production of a report that would serve as guidance and baseline for evaluating climate related losses and damage. “It has already been demonstrated that the socio-economic impact faced by African countries in coping with the Covid-19 crisis has been very high, and adding a burden of financing something such as loss and damage would be unfair,” she said.

Anja Beretta, Konrad Adenauer’s Director for Energy Security and Climate Change in Africa, urged African countries to integrate mechanisms to address losses and damage into their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). She also called for designated institutions and functioning structures to ensure the efficient and effective use of climate finance to advance the discussion on financial flows into loss and damage.

Stephane Bonamy, Head of the Regional Delegation for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Cameroon, said, for countries that face both conflict and climate change impacts, it is imperative that preventive measures are put in place early enough to reduce the extent of loss and damage faced and lessen the burden on communities.” He noted that 14 of the 25 most vulnerable countries to climate change impacts worldwide also face some form of conflict.

Dr Olumide Abimbola, the Executive Director of the Africa Policy Research Institute in Berlin reiterated the need for more African examples of past and current loss and damage to be incorporated into textbooks and journals.

There was agreement among the participants on the need for Africa to prioritize timely, comprehensive and large-scale adaptation action to avert or minimize future losses and damages.

There was also consensus on the urgent need to scale up financial flows from public and private sources into adaptation action across Africa. They cited the African Development Bank’s Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program, a joint initiative with the Global Center on Adaptation, as a positive example. The program seeks to mobilize $25 billion over five years to accelerate and scale climate adaptation actions across the continent.

Participants also called for new strategic partnerships to drive adaptation policies, plans and investments in Africa through the implementation of NDCs and tapping synergies with such initiatives as the Africa Disaster Risk Financing program.

 

About the African Climate Week (ACW)

ACW is an annual event that engages and empowers stakeholders to drive climate action across countries, communities and economies. The event is organized by UN Climate Change in collaboration with global partners UN Development Programme, UN Environment Programme and the World Bank Group. Partners in the region include the Africa Union, the Africa Development Bank, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). ACW 2022 was hosted in Gabon.

 

Article type

Africa Adaptation Dialogue: implementing the vision at the Africa Climate Week

Submitted by Trine Tvile on

What: Africa Adaptation Dialogue: implementing the vision

When: 31 August 09:30 - 10:30 CAT

Where: Libreville, Gabon

Who: Global Center on Adaptation; Africa Adaptation Initiative (Chaired by Gabon); African Development Bank

Despite contributing the least to global warming, Africa finds itself on the frontline of the climate emergency, with the impacts of external shocks exacerbating these vulnerabilities. Indeed, large portions of Africa—particularly the drylands that cover three-fifths of the continent—are warming at a rate twice the global average, putting half a billion people at risk.

Chaired by Gabon, the Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI) aims to strengthen collaboration on adaptation across the continent. To implement this vision, the Global Center on Adaptation and the African Development Bank have jointly developed the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program – AAAP. This Africa-led, Africa-owned response is mobilizing $25 billion for climate adaptation investments in the continent over five years. This event will review progress of the AAAP and how it is contributing to narrowing the finance gap, thus accelerating the implementation of AAI.

 

Program

  • Welcome Remarks by the Moderator

Davinah Milenge Uwella – Principal Programme Coordinator, African Development Bank

  • Opening Video
  • Opening Remarks

Dr. Kevin Kariuki – Vice President, Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth, AfDB

  • Framing remarks: The Africa Adaptation Initiative and the AAA

Tanguy Gahouma-Bekale – Special Advisor to His Excellency Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of the Gabonese Republic, Permanent Secretary of the National Climate Council

  • The AAAP as the vehicle to implement the AAI vision

Prof. Anthony Nyong – Senior Director, and Africa Regional Director, Global Center on Adaptation

AAAP voices from the field

  • AAAP partners and beneficiaries

Moderated discussion with participants

  • Wrap up by the Moderator
Start Date
End Date
Countries
Regions

Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Climate Risk Assessment and adaptation options prioritization for the Transgabonaise road corridor PPP project

Submitted by Trine Tvile on

What: This is a private event

Where: Global - Virtual

When: 19 April 2023, 0:00

This first Multi-Stakeholder Climate Risk Dialogue will present the preliminary results of the high-resolution climate hazard modelling outcomes, and vulnerability assessment of the road corridor project.

Event description:

As part of the Global Center on Adaptation’s support to the Transgabonaise road corridor project under the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), a Multi-Stakeholder Climate Risk Dialogue was organized to present results from the climate risk assessment with the African Development Bank, and project partners including the Societe Autiroutiere du Gabon (SAG), and the government of Gabon’s departments of Environment, Weather, and transport.  

Historical weather trends, in Gabon, show an increase in mean annual temperatures of +1ºC since 1981, and decrease in mean annual rainfall, at an average rate of 3.8 mm per month per decade since 1960, with regional disparities. The technical assistance provided by the GCA will support an in-depth understanding of future climate hazards under different climate change scenarios, and across the different regions crossed by the 900km road corridor, and led to identify and provide a cost-benefit analysis of adaptation and resilience options to mitigate these current and future climate hazards.

Image
Infra-event-figure

Figure 1: Climatology in Gabon: Historic evolution and trends, Source GCA – study from Royal Haskoning, Lobelia Earth, April 2023. 

This First Multi-Stakeholder Climate Risk Dialogue will present the preliminary results of the high-resolution climate hazard modelling outcomes, and vulnerability assessment of the road corridor project. Especially, the project stakeholders will discuss the main climate hazards that have been highlighted, including extreme temperatures, extreme precipitation, drought intensity,  and how these climate events might impact the assets and transport services. The discussion with local stakeholders will contribute to ensure robustness of the project outcomes.  

Start Date
Countries
Regions
Event Type

Africa Adaptation Dialogue: implementing the vision

Submitted by Trine Tvile on
Countries
Regions
Body

What:      Africa Adaptation Dialogue: implementing the vision

When:     31 August 09:30 - 10:30 CAT

Where:    Libreville, Gabon

Who:       Global Center on Adaptation; Africa Adaptation Initiative (Chaired by Gabon); African Development Bank

 

Despite contributing the least to global warming, Africa finds itself on the frontline of the climate emergency, with the impacts of external shocks exacerbating these vulnerabilities. Indeed, large portions of Africa—particularly the drylands that cover three-fifths of the continent—are warming at a rate twice the global average, putting half a billion people at risk.

Chaired by Gabon, the Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI) aims to strengthen collaboration on adaptation across the continent. To implement this vision, the Global Center on Adaptation and the African Development Bank have jointly developed the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program – AAAP. This Africa-led, Africa-owned response is mobilizing $25 billion for climate adaptation investments in the continent over five years. This event will review progress of the AAAP and how it is contributing to narrowing the finance gap, thus accelerating the implementation of AAI.

 

Program

  • Welcome Remarks by the Moderator

Davinah Milenge Uwella – Principal Programme Coordinator, African Development Bank

  • Opening Video
  • Opening Remarks

Dr. Kevin Kariuki – Vice President, Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth, AfDB

  • Framing remarks: The Africa Adaptation Initiative and the AAA

Tanguy Gahouma-Bekale – Special Advisor to His Excellency Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of the Gabonese Republic, Permanent Secretary of the National Climate Council

  • The AAAP as the vehicle to implement the AAI vision

Prof. Anthony Nyong – Senior Director, and Africa Regional Director, Global Center on Adaptation

AAAP voices from the field

  • AAAP partners and beneficiaries

Moderated discussion with participants

  • Wrap up by the Moderator

 

Draft Program

Article type

Gabon –The Transgabonaise Road Project

Submitted by Trine Tvile on
Countries
Regions
AAAP upstream status
MDB board date
Sub-sector
Project stage
Context

With improvements to the road, rail, shipping and aviation networks a key government goal, Gabon’s transport sector is undergoing a major transformation. While population pressure is modest, with around 1.7m people in the country, existing links are limited; the two largest cities, Libreville and Port-Gentil, had, until work began on one recently, no road connection. 

The 828 km long Transgabonaise road is key as it connects Libreville (the capital and coastal city) and Franceville (third Gabonese city after Port-Gentil). It comprises several segments of the Routes Nationales (RN) 1 to 4. Despite its strategic importance, the road has suffered from substantial deterioration due to a lack of maintenance and increased traffic over the last decade, caused by the increase of population and lumbering.

 

GCA Focal Point
Task manager
Project category
Project type
Show on front
Off
Investment value
429000000
Example results indicator
Promote economic growth through ease of transportation of goods and services efficiently, allowing businesses to access larger markets and expand their operations
Objectives

The projects is supporting the rehabilitation of a succession of national roads in Gabon to make it a more efficient logistics axis. 

Transgabonaise Road Project is divided into three stages:

  • Libreville -AlembéStage 
  • Alembé -Mikouyi (via Lalara, Koumameyong, Booué, Carrefour Leroy)
  • Mikouyi -Franceville
AAAP added value
  • High-resolution, asset-level climate risk and vulnerability assessments to quantify key climate hazards and associated risks to the road infrastructure assets along the entire road corridor 
  • Innovative solutions for climate smart transport asset management: Based on specific hazards identified including nature-based solutions (NBS) to optimize the resilience of the assets
  • Operational performance metrics and standards for the service level agreement (SLA) based on the direct and indirect climate-related damages identified
Expected Outcomes
  • Improvement in the capacity and quality of the road infrastructure
  • Creation of over 1,000 direct jobs and over 9,000 indirect jobs
  • Saving on operational costs and travel time impacting both households and private sector development though lower transport costs
  • Generation of safety benefits and lower greenhouse gas emissions
  • Additional 200 billion CFA (or $302.4 million) to Gabon’s GDP (equivalent to ~1.9% according to the 2021 GDP)
Expected impacts
  • Increased connectivity within Gabon and with neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo-Brazzaville
  • Promote economic growth through ease of transportation of goods and services efficiently, allowing businesses to access larger markets and expand their operations
  • increased trade, investment, and tourism, stimulating economic development in both urban and rural areas in Gabon
  • Enhances regional integration and cooperation by facilitating the movement of people, goods, and services across borders, fostering trade relationships and cultural exchange
  • Improve accessibility to remote areas, providing people with better opportunities for education, healthcare, employment, and social services
Start Date
End Date
Fincial instrument
Loans
AAAP Focus Areas
Transport
Infrastructure
Project Value

USD 99.2 million

Unique identifier
379114

AAAP webinar: Innovation essential for climate-smart future, but it's not enough

Submitted by Trine Tvile on
Regions
Body

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27, is dubbed ‘African COP’ as the impact of climate change on African countries will be a key theme of discussions. Agriculture and food systems will also be a critical focus of COP27, with Saturday, 12 November, dedicated to both themes, in addition to adaptation. Also high on the climate agenda is the role of the youth, as 10 November is dedicated to their participation.

Ahead of COP27 and in line with their commitment to this youth agenda, the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation hosted a webinar to examine ways to make agriculture attractive to the youth.

The webinar titled, Are Climate-Smart and Digital Agriculture Solutions the Silver Bullet to Attract Youth, highlighted the potential of climate-smart and digital agriculture in attracting young people and thereby rejuvenating an aging global agricultural sector.

Dr. Kevin Kariuki, African Development Bank’s Vice President for Power Energy, Climate and Green Growth, pointed out the challenges the agriculture sector faces due to the changing climate change.

“Agriculture across most of sub-Saharan Africa is still predominantly rain-fed and therefore extremely vulnerable to both short-term fluctuations and long-term changes in climate conditions. It is the most exposed sector with estimates indicating that climate change will cause a decrease in yields of 8 – 22% for Africa’s rain-fed staple crops over the next 20 years,” Kariuki said.

Dr. Beth Dunford, African Development Bank’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, noted that while agriculture holds tremendous potential for job creation in Africa, its current traditional form is not attractive to young people for various reasons, including negative perceptions.

“Who wants to wear overalls, dig the field with a hoe or drive a tractor when we can do it in a suit and dust coat, right? However, technology makes agriculture cool enough to motivate them to use tech-enabled enterprises to be part of agricultural value chains,” Dunford said.

Prof. Anthony Nyong, Senior Director for Africa at the Global Centre on Adaptation, said: “There is a gap in the agriculture sector in Africa, and that is in the use of digital solutions.”

AAAP’s Climate Smart Digital Technologies for Agriculture and Food Security Pillar is scaling up access to digital technologies and associated data-driven agricultural and financial services for at least 30 million African farmers.

In the African Development Bank’s Program to Build Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security in the Horn of Africa (BREFONS), currently ongoing in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, the AAAP is facilitating the integration of climate-smart digital technologies for adaptation and resilience.

“The project will increase the productivity of crops and livestock by 30%, reaching about 1.3 million farmers and pastoralists using climate services such as index insurance. About 55,000 additional jobs will be created for youth and women,” said Oluyede Ajayi, Africa Program Lead, Food Security and Rural Well Being, Global Centre on Adaptation.

Panelists said the youth must utilize their digital skills to accelerate the transformation of the agricultural sector, which forms the central pillar of Africa’s economy. They urged participants to contribute to solutions that enhance market linkages to promote agribusiness.

“Africa’s significant youth population faces rising unemployment with myriad negative consequences. These challenges are further exacerbated by climate shocks, skill gaps & limited preparedness to address the effects of climate change,” said Andre-Marie Taptue, Principal Economist at the African Development Bank's Jobs for Youth program.

AAAP’s YouthAdapt program promotes sustainable job creation through entrepreneurship in climate adaptation and resilience in Africa by unlocking $3 billion in credit for adaptation action.

Last year, the first set of ten young African entrepreneurs and Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises offering innovative solutions and business ideas that can drive climate change adaptation and resilience were awarded at COP26 in Glasgow. This year the Africa Youth Adaptation Competition 20 enterprises across Africa will each receive up to $100,000 in addition to mentorship and coaching to support their climate change adaptation innovation.

Panelists included Claude Migisha from the African Development Bank, Dr. Fleur Wouterse, and Aramide Abe from the Global Center of Adaptation. They shared their views on how AAAP was shaping and adding value to the Bank Digital Agriculture Flagship program, ways to accelerate investor engagement in agriculture adaptation, and how the YouthADAPT was moving the needle on entrepreneurship, unlocking finance and job creation.

Gislaine Matiedje Nkenmayi from Mumita Holdings, a recipient of the 2021 YouthADAPT Challenge award, shared her experience on how the $100,000 grant transformed her enterprise.

“With the grant, we were able to reach out to more than 10 cooperatives with a total of 257 smallholder farmers, to whom we offer free advisory services, low-cost greenhouses and solar-powered irrigation systems. We have been able to expand production from 100kg to 1000kg of fresh vegetables weekly,” Nkenmayi said.

In her concluding remarks, Edith Ofwona Adera, Principal Regional Climate Change Officer and AAAP coordinator at the Bank stressed the need to strengthen adaptation and resilience measures and expedite mainstreaming climate adaptation for transformation at scale. She called for the engagement of the private sector, given the role they can play in adapting to climate change, financing adaptation, and supporting others through products and services for resilience.

Article type

Building resilience for food and nutrition security in the Horn of Africa (BREFONS)

Submitted by Trine Tvile on
Pillars
Regions
AAAP upstream status
Sector
AAAP facility upstream
331914
PAC date
MDB board date
Sub-sector
Project stage
Context

The target countries of this project (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan) are located in the arid and semi-arid lands, which comprise more than 70% of the Horn of Africa (HOA) region, receive less than 600 mm of annual rainfall and are characterized by recurrent droughts and unpredictable rainfall patterns. 

Despite the region’s considerable range of natural resources, with their huge potential for wealth and progress, the HOA countries are struggling to cope with their worsening ecological circumstances. Droughts are increasing in severity and frequency and their impacts are exacerbated by advancing desertification, land degradation, global warming, and climate change. These circumstances have created chronic vulnerability in the HOA, with persistent food insecurity, widespread economic hardships, conflicts, and migration. The strategic priorities of countries in the HOA are defined by their urgent need to build resilience to environmental and socio-economic shocks, through investing in sustainable development and optimizing the productivity of their resources.

GCA Focal Point
Task manager
Project category
Project type
Show on front
On
Investment value
210000000
Example results indicator
1.3 million farmers and pastoralists using climate services, e.g. index insurance with a gender focus
Objectives

Through building resilience to climate change, the overall objective of this program is to increasing, on a sustainable and resilient basis, productivity and agro-sylvo-pastoral production in the HOA, increase incomes from agro-sylvo-pastoral value chains and enhance the adaptive capacity of the populations to prepare for and manage climate change risks.

AAAP added value
  • Provide upstream technical assistance to ensure climate smart digital technologies for adaptation and resilience are integrated into the project.
  • Identifying key agriculture adaptation constraints that can be addressed by digital technologies and develop solutions
  • Assessing the conditions and opportunities for digital applications for drought index insurance 
  • Identifying opportunities for digital agricultural adaptation solutions through the preparing of climate risk and digital agriculture profiles 
  • Supporting stakeholders to identify and implement opportunities through the preparation of a digital agricultural adaptation toolkit 
  • Building the capacity of policymakers and enable policy interventions to ensure uptake of digital solutions using the toolkit. 
  • Feasibility studies and assessment on building resilience for food security in Africa; 
  • Feasibility studies to assess integration of adaptation and mitigation measures for the sustainability of nutrition and food security interventions;
  • Quality assurance and advisory services for results and evidence-based planning, management and M&E of the Youth Enterprise Development project interventions
Expected Outcomes

The programme will contribute to improving living conditions, including for women and the youth; improving food and nutrition security; increasing resilience; and peace and security in the HOA. Specifically it will: 

  • Productivity (crops and livestock) increased by 30%
  • 50% increase in digital literacy for actors across value chains, of which 80% are women and youth
  • 30% de-risked credit as a result of use of Digital Climate Advisory Services and Digital Financial Services
  • 30% increase in use of index insurance products by smallholders across target value chains
  • 55,000 additional jobs created (primarily for women and youth)
Expected impacts
  • 1.3 million farmers and pastoralists in the six countries use climate services (e.g. index insurance with a gender focus), allowing them to benefit from:

- Increased productivity and agro-sylvo-pastoral production in the Horn of Africa, on a sustainable and resilient basis

- Increased incomes (by 40%) from agro-sylvo-pastoral value chains

  • More broadly, the population of the Horn of Africa have enhanced adaptive capacity to better prepare for and manage climate change risks and variation.

 

Start Date
End Date
Fincial instrument
Loans
Grant
AAAP Focus Areas
Agriculture
Project Value

USD 210 million

Unique identifier
220559

Skills for Employability, Inclusion and Productivity Project (SEIP)

Submitted by Trine Tvile on
Countries
Regions
AAAP facility upstream
500000
MDB board date
Sub-sector
Project stage
Context

The Somali youth experience low absorption in the formal job opportunities with over two-thirds of the unemployed spending at least 8 months searching for a job. As a result, the main  form  of  employment  in  Somalia  is  self-employment in  the  informal  sector.  Over  64%  of workers  in  Somalia,  especially  women  and  youth,  are  self-employed,  61%  of  whom  are  in  non-agricultural self-employment. Given the low availability of decent jobs, the long job search period and the predominance of low wages and low productivity in the Somali labour market, the promotion of  entrepreneurship  and  self-employment  is  a  key strategy  to  improve  employment  outcomes  and income  generation. Therefore, skills development in areas that can enhance entrepreneurship is critical for risk management and for building resilience.

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Somalia is very limited  due  to  lack  of  adequate  infrastructure  and  systems  to  implement  the activities  falling  under  the  sector.  The trainings are provided by private vocational training centers and by few public-training centers funded by the international community. As a result, TVET  needs rehabilitation  and be  expanded  in  order  to  produce skilled  workers  and  specialists  who  will  eventually  strengthen  the  Somali economy, which can then increasingly rely on their own domestic workforce.

GCA Focal Point
Task manager
Project category
Show on front
Off
Investment value
7300000
Example results indicator
Youth equipped with entrepreneurship skills necessary to facilitate self-employment, income generation and economic resilience
Objectives

The overall aim to increase access and relevance of technical and vocational skills that catalyse economic transformation and enhance employability and inclusion of Somalis, particularly for Youth and women. It will support the government to provide employable vocational and technical training opportunities targeting the youth. More specifically, the project will:

  • Rehabilitate  of  technical  and  vocational  training  centers  in  order  to increase access and ensure inclusion in skills training
  • Build capacity of  TVET  teachers/instructors  and  improve  TVET curriculum to strengthen skills quality and relevance
  • Integrate entrepreneurship to  enhance innovation and self-employment 
  • Support sectorial and institutional capacity building
AAAP added value

a) Development of curriculum in climate sensitive courses 

  • Solar technology / solar system installation and maintenance
  • Climate Smart agriculture including composite manure making, water harvesting, storage and application technologies, soil and water conservation. 
  • Eco-friendly construction skills 
  • Alternative livelihood skills such as plumbing and carpentry

b) Labour market assessment (including an assessment of potential for green jobs/ entrepreneurship in Somalia)

c) Entrepreneurship development in green enterprises

Expected Outcomes
  • 400 youth to be trained in climate-relevant and green related courses
  • 120 young entrepreneurs to focus on green entrepreneurship/ jobs
  • Reduced skilled labour shortages and labour importation
  • strengthened technical  and vocational  skills  development  to  enhance  employability  and  contribute to  inclusive  green growth
Expected impacts
  • Increased access to quality skills development and enhanced equity in vocational training. through support to  vocational  and  technical training  and institutional capacity building
  • Youth equipped with entrepreneurship skills necessary to facilitate self-employment, income generation and economic resilience
Start Date
End Date
Fincial instrument
Grant
AAAP Focus Areas
Youth
Education
Entrepreneurship
Project Value

AfDB investment of USD 7.3 million

Unique identifier
484855