The African Development Bank (AfDB) launched the African Green Bank Initiative at the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in 2022, together with the Climate Investment Fund (CIF), Canada Climate Action Africa, Amundi, and the Green Bank Network. The Initiative gives a framework for AfDB to provide governments and financial institutions technical assistance, fundraising support, and co-financing opportunities for green projects. It does so by providing credit enhancement solutions to mitigate risks and mobilize public and private sector investments.

The Initiative has been successfully piloted in Benin and Côte d’Ivoire. The MCDF grant will help increase the coverage of the Initiative in North Africa in partnership with two local commercial banks – Commercial International Bank (CIB) in Egypt and Bank of Africa (BOA) in Morocco.

The MCDF grant will support technical assistance to CIB and BOA to structure and launch their green finance facilities (green infrastructure banks) and strengthen capacity to build a robust pipeline of bankable green infrastructure and connectivity projects. The activities to be financed by the grant will include the services of external experts to support the preparation of green infrastructure and connectivity projects, creation of credit enhancement vehicles, and mobilization of finance from third parties.

The MCDF grant aims to advance sustainable development in North Africa by providing high-quality project preparation support to CIB and BOA to bridge the gap between promising climate-smart infrastructure and connectivity projects and their financing requirements. The MCDF grant is expected to help unlock substantial investment in climate-resilience, high-quality infrastructure, and connectivity in North Africa.