AFC Capital Partners plans to raise $2 billion to fund infrastructure projects in Africa that will make it more resilient to climate change.
The asset management company, a unit of the Africa Finance Corp., will raise an initial $500 million in its debut offering over the next year and the full amount over the coming three years, it said in a statement.
Read also: Foundation to raise $40,000 to plant 250,000 trees in schools
While Africa produces just 4% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, it is being hard hit by climate change and its response had been hamstrung by a lack of funds. In recent years, unusually strong cyclones have struck the southeast coast, droughts have parched southern Africa and floods and landslides have plagued the Horn of Africa.
AFC plans to invest the money in projects that reduce carbon emissions as well as building infrastructure more resilient to new weather patterns. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has estimated the continent’s infrastructure needs at at least $2.3 trillion of investment.
“Significant financing is urgently required for physical infrastructure that will survive the forces of climate change,” Ayaan Zeinab Adam, AFC Capital’s chief executive officer, said in the statement.
Source: Bloomberg
