OREANDA-NEWS. May 14, 2015. Launched in April 2014 with a EUR 4.725 million contribution from Germany for an initial three-year period, the African Development Bank-sponsored Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) is working to address underlying challenges currently preventing many of the region’s countries from accessing the climate finance they require for engaging in climate smart development.

According to the ACCF Annual Report 2014, released on Friday, May 8, the goal of the Fund is to support regional member countries in their transition to climate resilient and low carbon development through technical assistance which will help them use funds received more efficiently, track climate finance flows, implement climate resilient and low carbon strategies, build resource efficiency and resilience, and develop relevant investment plans and projects. In the medium-term, the Fund will also co-finance sector-related projects, serve as a knowledge bank, and provide relevant capacity building.

Speaking on the release of the report, Kurt Lonsway, AfDB Manager for Environment and Climate Change, said, “In its first nine months of operation alone, the ACCF Secretariat was formed, operational guidelines were prepared, and a communication strategy was devised and implemented. In July 2014, the first call for proposals specifically dedicated to climate finance readiness projects was launched.”

Following screening and pre-selection of the 362 proposals received by the ACCF Secretariat, the pool was narrowed down to 22 proposals based upon a variety of factors including alignment with ACCF and Bank objectives and the project’s alignment on the scope of the call for proposals, in addition to the extent and measurability of development outcomes. More than half of the selected proposals came from ministries or national agencies, while regional organizations, African research institutions and African NGOs and AfDB comprised the remainder. “This first ACCF call for proposals was a great success and demonstrates the need for additional resources to be made available to African countries in their quest to transition towards climate smart development,” said Florence Richard, ACCF Coordinator.

The Report noted that moving forward, the ACCF Secretariat will work with these beneficiaries to fine-tune their proposals with the goal of approving as many projects as possible by the end of 2015, while it will continue to work with donors and other partners to attract additional funding to transition the Fund into a multi-donor trust fund and expand activities beyond climate finance readiness.