Stakeholder consultation workshop on Namibia’s GCF project pipelines and concept notes

In an effort to increase Namibia’s access to climate finance to achieve the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the Environmental Investment Fund is hosting a two-day workshop aimed at strengthening the capacities of four Namibian institutions towards their accreditation as GCF Direct Access Entities (DAEs). These entities are the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF), the Agricultural Bank of Namibia (AgriBank), Bank Windhoek (BW) and the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN).

This activity is being implemented under the Readiness and Support Project titled “Support for accreditation of direct access entities in Namibia (NAM-RS-006)” funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) implemented by the EIF.  The workshop is part of the activities contributing to the accreditation process through the development of project pipelines and the subsequent development of a GCF submission-ready concept note for each of the four entities.

In order to speed up further access to climate finance, the entities seeking accreditation as direct access entities have each proposed a concrete and impactful program for funding from the Green Climate Fund. Therefore, the workshop is to review the concept notes for each of the program and give inputs to further enhance them before submission to the Green Climate Fund.

The Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) is preparing a concept valued at USD10 Million aimed at transforming cropping systems in northern Namibia through climate-smart, regenerative agriculture, improving food security, income, and reversing land degradation. Agricultural Bank of Namibia (Agribank)’s concept valued at USD250 Million seeks to create a facility to support Namibia’s agricultural sector in adapting to climate change by promoting resilient production systems and integrated value chains.

Bank Windhoek on the other hand intends to establish a Clean Energy Facility valued at USD50 Million. The facility seeks to de-carbonize Namibia’s electricity supply by stimulating investments in renewable energy, low-carbon transport, and energy-efficient solutions. The Development Bank of Namibia intends to Enhance Water Security in Municipalities to a value of USD250 million.

Opening, the workshop, Petrus Muteyauli, Deputy Director for Multilateral and Bilateral agreements in the Environment Ministry says, Namibia has secured about N$ 4 billion in climate related funding from multilateral funding windows and bilateral cooperation in the past 10 years. Most of the funding came from the Green Climate Fund, Global Environment Facility, Special Climate Fund, and the Adaptation Fund. The current projects that are under implementation are valued at about N$ 1.3 billion.