AfDB PLEDGES TO MOBILISE $6.5 BILLION TO SUPPORT GREAT GREEN WALL INITIATIVE

The Sahel region’s Great Green Wall Initiative received a major boost from the African Development Bank on Monday. During a forum hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, the Bank pledged to assist in mobilising up to $6.5 billion over five years, to advance the landmark initiative.

The resources will be made available through a range of programmes in support of the Great Green Wall by drawing on internal as well as external sources of funding, such as the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), among others.

Multilateral development partners joined the Bank in pledging funding for the African-led initiative that aims to rejuvenate life in Africa’s current desert landscapes, providing food security, jobs and a reason for millions of Africans from Senegal to Djibouti to stay in the Sahel region. The forum took place in the margins of the One Planet Summit.

Addressing the summit virtually from Abidjan, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina informed delegates that, “The Great Green Wall is part of Africa’s environmental defence system—A shield against the onslaughts of desertification and degradation. The future of the Sahel region depends on the Great Green Wall. Without the Great Green Wall, the Sahel region as we know it may disappear.”

SOURCE: African Development Bank