News – Johannesburg, Cairo, Lagos, Nairobi, Paris, New York, London, Addis Ababa, Tokyo 28 September 2021
Investment leaders, representing assets of more than $40 trillion, set out strategic priority areas and initiatives to consider in the run up to, and during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 27) to take place in Africa next year.
They met during The African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB) Partnerships Dialogue on Pioneering Asset Owner Green Pathway Initiatives, a COP 26 UNFCCC Africa Climate Week (ACW) official event, during the 76TH session of the UN General Assembly.
Hubert Danso was the Chair of the Dialogue, which was co-hosted by AfGIIB, The African Union Development Agency (AUDA), The Continental Business Network (CBN), the African Sovereign Wealth and Pension Fund Leaders Forum (ASWPFF), in collaboration with the G20’s Global Infrastructure Hub (GI-Hub).
Danso is the CEO and Chairman of Africa investor (Ai) Group. He also Chairs The African Union Development Agency’s (AUDA) Continental Business Network (CBN), and also serves as the Chairman of the CFA New York Society Global Asset Owners’ Advisory Council, and is the Chairman of the African Sovereign Wealth & Pension Fund Leaders Forum.
World governments and global development finance institutions recognise that without exponentially increasing the scale and speed of global institutional investor allocations that can be rapidly deployed and perform at the project and asset level, it is not possible to address the multi-trillion dollar financing gap for bankable green transition and net zero infrastructure projects of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris Agreement.
Participating investment leaders at the Dialogue highlighted the urgent need for COP 27 to forge and implement innovative institutional investor-public partnerships (IIPPs). This is particularly important between African Heads of State, Ministries of Finance, Central Banks, and the institutional investment community. If these are not in place, the goals of the Paris Agreement, the SDGs, Agenda 2063, and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would be unachievable.
During the Dialogue, African and global institutional investors called on advanced economy governments to meet and increase the pledged COP $100bn per annum mitigation and adaption finance commitment to developing countries. These funds are important as a de-risking catalyser to more private capital.
Danso emphasised that the Forum’s key mission ahead of COP 27 was to assist leaders to design and deliver greater public-private finance and mandate alignment and more catalytic private investment pathways that fast track and scale private capitals’ participation in the continent’s green transition. All this must be implemented through IIPPs and special pathway investment platforms, such as AfGIIB.
Danso went on to commend the AfGIIB Advisory Board for its pro-active initiatives to function as a powerful green investment mobilisation sounding board for the continent. This was especially important as it prepares to take over the COP 26 Presidency next month in Glasgow and host an IIPP-inclusive COP 27 next year on African soil.
The discussion leaders at the Dialogue included:
- Ndabe Mkhize, CIO, Eskom Provident Pension Fund (EPPF)
- Ayman Soliman, CEO, The Egyptian Sovereign Wealth Fund
- Duncan Bonfield, CEO, International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds
- Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)
- Lionel C. Johnson, President, Pacific Pension & Investment Institute (PPI)
- Alison Fagan, Partner, International Head of Infrastructure Funds, DLA Piper
- Akim Daouda, CEO, Gabonese Sovereign Wealth Fund (FGIS)
- Ngatia Kirungie, CEO, Kenyan Pension Funds Investment Consortium (KEPFIC)
- Adam Matthews, Chief Responsible Investment Officer (CRIO) Church of England Pensions Board, Chair Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI)
- John W.H. Denton AO, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
- Solomon Asamoah, CEO, Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF)
- The Hon. Nick Sherry, Vice Chair, World Pensions Council
- Marcus Svedberg, Investment Strategist, Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund (AP4)
- Henri Blas, Chief Content Officer, G20 Infrastructure Hub (GI-Hub)
- Eloy Lindeijer, Former Chief Investment Management (PGGM)
AfGIIB, AUDA, and its partners, will take forward the initiatives raised at the Dialogue as part of the asset owners’ track of initiatives for COP 27.
For more information, contact the Forum here.
About the African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB)
The African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB) initiative is an African Union-convened and supported, African institutional investor-led, global finance initiative. It has been established to catalyse private capital for Africa’s green transition in the run up to COP 27 in Africa and beyond.
