Cameroon Launches New Climate Finance Platform For Local Councils

The Government of Cameroon, together with the African Network of Subnational Development Banks (RIAFCO) and the Global Fund for Cities Development(FMDV) on September 24 in New York, launched the African Chapter of the Global Alliance for Subnational Development Banks.

The initiative aimed at creating an enabling environment for long term climate investment at local levels, was launched on the sidelines of the UN Climate Action Summit convened by Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General.

Subdnational Development Banks are national public or private institutions mandated for providing funding and financing to local councils for public services provision and investment in infrastructure projects through technical assistance, guarantees, credit enhancement, intergovernmental transfers and fiscal equalization,among others.

Philipe Camille Akoa, General Manager of Special Council Support Fund for Mutual Assistance (FEICOM) who doubles as President of RIAFCO, pointed out that the Global Alliance is intended to overcome a challenge faced by Local and Regional Governments (LRGs) in terms of accessing available public and private financing within the global financing framework.

He shares the school of thought that the LRGs need to expand and diversify their financial resources and solve structural lack of capacities to formulating and implementing bankable low-emission projects.

Chaired the Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the United Nations, the event was used to reintegrate the initiatives engagement to creating a commitment of African countries to reinforce their Subnational Development Banks for a better access of African cities to climate finance. 

The Global Alliance for Subnational Development Banks, we learned, has been intergrated as one component of the Leadership for Urban Climate Investment (LUCI) initiative equally launched during the Climate Action Summit.

Mbom Sixtus on assignment in New York,USA